And now they all know. They know what I did.
Nick stood up and tromped his way deeper into the woods, wanting to escape their stares and judgments.
And my own guilt.
A few minutes later he slumped down against an old spruce tree that came up out of the ground at a weird angle. He leant back against its trunk and started bashing his head against the bark, again and again, harder and harder. Eventually he saw stars.
He burst into tears, crying so hard that he thought he might suffocate as the sobs seized his chest and cramped his diaphragm.
James, Deana…I miss you both so much. You’re my world, and you’re not here. I’m alone and going through hell.
What do I do?
How do I go on without you?
As Nick’s grief took hold of him, he wanted to die. He wanted it all to be over.
I can’t go on.
Eventually his body became so weak from sobbing that he could no longer even sustain his own weight. He slid sideways down the spruce’s bark and fell onto his back. He found himself staring up at the grey sky, wondering if it might rain. Covered in dirt and blood, the thought of being cleansed by Mother Nature was comforting. Perhaps the heaven’s themselves would open and drown him in a downpour. He hoped so.
A twig snapped nearby.
Nick rolled onto his chest and looked up in the direction of the noise.
“Hey,” said Eve, stepping over the undergrowth and hiking towards him. She came and knelt down on the ground nearby, stretched out her legs and then lay down right next to him.
Nick sighed. “Hey.”
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Just…getting some stuff out of my system.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“For the things I said earlier. Well, pretty much for everything I’ve said to you since we met. I know I’ve been a bit up and down. I’m hormonal at the best of times and this situation certainly isn’t helping.”
“You said I rescued you.” Nick recalled the words she had used.
“Yeah, well…that’s because you did. I just don’t like feeling like I owe anybody anything. It’s a flaw I have. I’m sorry I called your family monsters.”
“It’s okay,” Nick said. “I just don’t want to think of my family as being beyond help. I keep trying to convince myself that this will all blow over and that Deana and James will be waiting for me as soon as I get back home.”
“James is your son?”
“He was my son. I’m pretty sure he’s gone.”
“What happened?”
“He was sick, just like Jake was, and the little girl – and everybody else, I guess. He came running at me in the kitchen like a wild animal, and I-I….I slipped. We both fell down and his head hit the chair.”
“He didn’t come back, like Mr Curtis?”
“No. I was in the house for another ten minutes after that and he stayed…still. Mr Curtis was back on his feet almost right away.”
“Maybe it has something to do with their injuries,” said Eve.
Nick shrugged. “Dead is dead, isn’t it? Why would it matter how they die?”
Another twig snapped.
“You have to go for the head,” said the deep voice of a stranger.
Chapter eight
Nick leapt to his feet. So did Eve. Standing several feet away, beside a large conifer bush, were three large men: two black and one white. One of the black men was bald with a pointed goatee, while the other was well-groomed with short cropped hair and stubble. The white man was huge – six-and-a-half-feet, at least – and heavily bearded. He looked like one of those American bikers you often saw on television with names like Axel or Bones. All three of them were wearing the same grey tracksuits and white trainers.
“Who are you?” Nick asked them.
“Could ask you the same question,” said the black guy with the pointed goatee.
The large white man put his hand up to silence his associate and then smiled at Nick. “My name is Jan. Janwin Banks. This man on my right is Renee. The charmer on my left with the Fu Manchu is Dash. Don’t ask what his real name is, though, because he won’t tell you.”
“You’re prisoners,” Nick surmised from their matching attire. He backed away slowly, pulling Eve with him.
Jan held his hands up. “Hey, brother, there’s no need to fear us. We’re stuck in the same shit puddle that you are. We’re just trying to make it somewhere safe.”
“How did you get free?” Eve asked.
“The fuck it gotta do wid you, sweetheart?” said the one named Dash.
Jan sighed and shook his head. He took a step forward, his large hands still out in front of him. “Let’s just say that we’re victims of circumstance. The guards that were relocating us to a prison in Nottingham are all dead.”
Nick and Eve backed away more rapidly.
Jan laughed and shook his head. “No, not because of us. There was an accident. Some silly bollocks driving a Land Rover went right into our minibus. Next thing I know, there’s a bunch of lunatics tearing apart our P.O.s. We weren’t cuffed or anything, so we did a runner. It was either that, or suffer the same fate as the guards. There were five of us to begin with, but we didn’t all make it. It appears the world has become quite dangerous as of late. In fact, I preferred it on the inside.”
“There’s some sort of virus infecting people,” said Eve, “making everyone crazy.”
The man nodded and scratched at his impressive beard. “Makes sense. People don’t act like savages for no reason, not even in prison.”
Nick asked a question. “You said something about needing to go for the head?”
Dash spoke up in reply. “Yeah, it’s the only sure way to put ‘em down for good, you dig?”
Jan shrugged in agreement. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when one of these ‘infected’ people dies they have a tendency to come back.”
“You know that for sure?” Nick asked.
Jan nodded solemnly.
“Told you,” said Eve.
“When they come back,” said Jan. “They come back different. Slower and easier to deal with, but they tend to group together and come after you in a pack. You can only stop them for good with a good blow to the head.”
Eve gave Nick a look and he understood what she was thinking. James had not come back because he had struck his head on the chair. He had been spared the fate of coming back as a ghoul. There was a certain amount of relief in that, but not much.
“How do you know all this?” Nick asked.
“Because we saw that shit,” said Dash. “We’ve been hiking it all the way from Nottingham. Seen some seriously wacky shenanigans since then, blud.”
“It wasn’t too bad at first,” said Jan. “But the last couple hours things have gotten much worse. I don’t even know the name of the last town we passed through, but there was no one there left alive. They were all infected or dead. We managed to lay low and avoid them, but if they’d spotted us then there would have been no chance to escape them all. That’s why we made for the countryside and these woods. I suppose you two had the same idea?”
“There’re half a dozen of us actually,” said Nick. He wanted to let the three men know that he wasn’t without backup if they tried anything. “We came here in a bus.”
“Mind if we join up with you?” Jan asked.
Dash pulled a face. “You serious? We don’t need to team up with this honky and his bitch.”
Nick clenched his fist and took a step forwards. “I think you might want to learn to keep your mouth shut, blud.”
Dash stepped forward to meet him. “You want a piece of me, honky?”
Jan stepped between them both. “Look, with all that’s going on, I think safety in numbers is the only thing that is going to help any of us. If we join up then we can try to figure something out, together.”
“No way are we joining up with you guys,” said Nick. “We don’t
know anything about you.”
Jan sighed. “What if I said, please? I promise to keep Dash on a tight leash. To tell you the truth, I’m beat, and pretty darn terrified. I just want to be around other people, you know? If you allow us to come with you and your group, then I promise we won’t be a burden. We’ll pull our weight.”
Nick didn’t know what to do. Was it really a good idea to team up with bunch of criminals? Could he turn his back on somebody asking for help?
“What were you in for?” Eve asked.
“I tried to rob a bank,” Jan replied bluntly.
Nick cleared his throat. “And what about your friends?”
“I’m innocent,” said Dash.
“Sure you are,” Jan said, frowning at his companion. “Dash, here, was done for dealing. As for Renee, I don’t honestly know. Fella doesn’t talk none. Only reason I know his name is because I heard the guards use it before they bit the dust. He’s a bit of a strange one, to be honest; but no harm that I can tell.”
Nick stared at Renee and found himself agreeing. The man was a picture of gentle calmness. He was almost smiling, but not quite. The blinking of his eyes was a slow and careful affair, like that of a dozing cat. For some reason Nick felt no sense of danger from the man – it was his two colleagues that were the bigger worry.
But what could he do? It was a free country and he couldn’t exactly stop the prisoners from following him. It would be better to extend the hand of friendship than to make an enemy. Nick didn’t like the thought of a bunch of angry criminals hunting them through the woods.
“Okay,” he said finally. “But you keep yourselves to yourselves and don’t upset anyone. These people have been through a lot.”
Jan smiled. “I understand. Lead the way, brother.”
***
Nick emerged back into the clearing. Everybody was standing around waiting for him. Eve had told them to stay put when she’d followed after him. When they saw the three newcomers they grew immediately apprehensive.
“Who are they?” Dave demanded.
Nick introduced the three men. “This is Jan, Renee, and Dash. They’ve had a similar day to the rest of us.”
“Why are they all wearing matching tracksuits?” Cassie asked.
Nick decided that honesty was the best policy. “Because they’re prisoners,” he said. “They’re going to tag along with us for a while.”
“Are you shitting me?” said Dave. “They’re supposed to be locked up, not roaming free. No way are they coming with us.”
Dash sucked at his teeth and tugged at his long beard, but didn’t say anything.
Perhaps he really is going to behave himself.
Jan, as was becoming the pattern, was the one to speak on behalf of the prisoners. “Look,” he said. “We are indeed supposed to be locked up, but right now there isn’t really a lot in the way of authority. We were sprung free by pure accident, and ever since then we’ve just been trying to survive. We didn’t escape by force; it was just a fluke of circumstance. What would you have us do?”
Dave sighed. “You better not be rapists or murderers.”
Cassie let out a whimper.
Jan waved a hand. “We’re not, I promise you. We may not be angels, by any lengths of the imagination, but we’re just lost souls right at the moment, same as you. We don’t want to become one of those things.”
“Do you know what those things are?” asked Kathryn. She sounded worried and was chewing at her fingernails.
Jan shrugged. “I don’t know what they are. I probably don’t know any more than you folks do. Your man, Nick, thinks a virus did this; I’m inclined to agree. What I can say for sure is that I’ve seen dead bodies walking around and eating people. As for what could cause such a thing, I have no idea. I’m not a praying man, usually, but I would suggest asking the old man up there to take mercy on us, because it seems like he’s pretty pissed off at the moment.”
Carl scoffed. “You think it’s the end of days?”
Jan shrugged. “Isn’t it? You think this isn’t the end of the world as we know it? Whether it was God, terrorists, or something else entirely, things have just taken one hell of a turn for the worse.”
Cassie whimpered again. “We’re all going to die. Eventually they’ll get us.”
Pauline went over and comforted the girl while the rest of the group exchanged nervous glances.
The silence was broken by Kathryn as she began to cough and splutter into her hands.
“You okay there?” Nick asked her.
She caught her breath and nodded. “I’m fine. Just got a frog in my throat.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Jan asked. “Do you folks have a destination in mind?”
“Does anywhere count?” said Nick.
“Better than nowhere, I guess.” Jan turned on the spot and pointed. “Me and the boys came from the main roads in that direction. Things are pretty bad back in the towns, so I would suggest we keep heading this way and stay in the woods.”
“This whole area is a country park apparently,” Nick said. “Maybe we’ll find help somewhere up the hill. There might be a craft centre or a farm or something.”
“Sounds good,” said Jan. “We’re happy to do whatever you folks think is best.”
Dash rolled his eyes and grumbled. Being subservient obviously did not sit well with the young criminal.
Nick confronted him about it. “That okay with you?”
Dash nodded. “Yeah, man. I’m sound.”
Kathryn let out another wracking cough. This time she seemed unable to stop.
Dash eyeballed her suspiciously. “What the fuck is wrong with this bitch?”
Jan walked up to Kathryn and put his hand beneath her chin. He forced her head up to look at him and then stared into her eyes. “She has it,” he said. “She’s infected.”
Nick hurried over. “What are you talking about? That’s not possible.” Then he saw Kathryn’s swollen, bloodshot eyes and knew that it was true.
She was infected.
“We need to put her down,” said Jan.
Kathryn managed to halt her coughing enough to stumble backwards with her hands outstretched. “No! No, I’m fine. Leave me alone, please. Just leave me alone.”
Jan stalked after her. Nick grabbed the large man by his wrist, which turned out to be as thick as a tree trunk. “Back off, buddy. No one is killing anybody. Are you insane?”
Jan looked at Nick like he was the one who was insane. “If we don’t kill her now, she’ll kill us later. I’ve seen it enough times to know.”
“He’s right,” said Dave. “We’ve seen it, too, with Jake.”
“But she can’t have it,” said Nick. “She hasn’t been bitten.”
“We don’t know that,” said Dave. “How can we be sure?”
“It was the water,” said Pauline.
Nick turned around. “What?”
“When we picked her up she had a bottle of water with her. Jake was feeling unwell so she shared it with him. Cross-contamination. Jake passed the virus onto her via his saliva on the bottle.”
“Are you kidding me?” said Carl. “What virus acts that fast? What virus gets to someone just by swigging from the same bottle?”
Nick thought about Deana and how she had kissed James’s wounded finger before putting a Beano plaster on it. Had that been all it had taken for her to catch it from her son? And, for that matter, was the kid at school that bit James’s finger the one that passed it on to him?
“It can’t be…” said Nick. “It can’t be that contagious.”
“It is what it is,” said Jan. “We need to put her out of her misery before she loses it and comes after us. It’s a kindness, believe me.”
“Fuck you,” Kathryn screamed. “You’re all fucking insane. You can’t kill me. I’m fin-” More wracking coughs caught a hold of her. She dropped to her knees, wheezing.
Dash brought over a large, fist-sized rock and handed it to Jan. “Turn her lights ou
t.”
Jan took the rock and moved towards Kathryn.
Nick stood in his way. “Not going to happen.”
“Move out the man’s way,” Dave ordered. “We have no choice about this.”
“Yeah,” added Carl. “We have to think about ourselves.”
Nick shook his head in disbelief. “Do you all think this is the right way to behave? You think we should just kill an innocent woman like it’s nothing? You think this is okay?”
“I don’t think it’s okay,” said Eve, standing next to Nick.
“Me either,” Pauline agreed. “It’s barbaric.”
“It’s cowardly, is what it is,” said Margaret. “This is not the way people in Britain behave. We’re not French.”
“What about you, Cassie?” Nick asked, trying to gain consensus. “What do you think?”
She looked down at her feet and shrugged. “I don’t want anyone to die.”
“Thank you,” Nick said.
“But I don’t want to be attacked again, either. I think…I think Kathryn is already dead if she has the virus.”
Nick had to blink to believe it. Of all the people to advocate mob violence, shy and quiet Cassie had seemed the least likely.
“You can’t do this,” Nick said, exasperated yet holding firm in front of Jan’s towering frame.
Jan stared down at Nick, his crystal-blue eyes set between twisting crags of crow’s feet and wrinkles. It was a hard expression from a hard man, but it somehow seemed to soften slightly as Nick stood his ground.
Eventually Jan nodded and let the rock fall from his hands to the ground. “It’s bad judgment, brother, but I promised to play things your way, so that’s what I’m going to do. How do you want to proceed?”
Nick sighed and let his shoulders deflate. “We just send her in the opposite direction,” he said. “By the time she turns – loses it, or whatever – we’ll be a mile and half in the other direction. We don’t need to kill-”
A loud wet thud!
Nick spun around and was shocked by what he saw.
Another wet thud!
“Dave, what the hell are you doing?”
Dave was sat astride Kathryn and had just bludgeoned her with two meaty blows from a mean-looking rock. Nick watched in horror as the bus driver prepared to smash the rock down a third time into the terrified woman’s face. She struggled beneath him. The pungent smell of urine wafted through the air and a dark stain appeared on the crotch of her work trousers. Dave was going to kill her.
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