“If I find out that you’re behind this, Anna…”
“You’ll what?” Mike finished for him. Then he turned around and followed after her. The feeling of having someone on her side, ready to fight for her, was unfamiliar. It warmed her belly. It’d been a long time since somebody had supported her like that. She just hoped that Mike wouldn’t go down in flames by trying to protect her. She would rather him save his own life than risk it by trying to save hers.
Why am I worrying about life and death? I should listen to Mike and concentrate on living.
“So, you’re really sure that Lily didn’t take the supplies?” Mike asked as he caught up with her by the Magic Carpet carousel.
“Yes. She’s been taking the scraps I’ve been leaving her and can probably live off some of the local vegetation, too. There’s no way she could have carried off all the supplies we left, anyway; not in a single night. No, whoever is responsible for the missing supplies is much more calculating than an orang-utan.”
“You’re right. Whoever is taking the extra food is making a conscious decision to screw the rest of us over.”
Annaliese went and took a seat on one of the park benches. In front of them was the cable car station. Far off, the sun had begun to dip beneath the horizon. Evening would be upon them soon.
Another night in the dark with nothing to do but think.
“You know what’s crazy?” Annaliese said.
Mike sat down beside her, put his hand on her knee. “What?”
“That people scare me more than the undead do.”
“The undead? Are we actually calling them that now?”
“May as well call a spade a spade.”
Mike chuckled. “I suppose so. I know what you mean, though. I can’t believe that Dave was murdered and now someone is stealing. You’d think that with all that’s happened, people would finally want to stick together.”
Annaliese let out a sigh. “Looks like the opposite is happening. Life is still about survival of the fittest – everyone out for themselves.”
“So…who do you think took the supplies?”
Annaliese chewed her lip and thought about it.
Do I really have any idea? The only person I really trust is the man sitting beside me. Until recently I may have included Nick in the list of people I could count on, but…
“Do you really think that Nick killed Dave?” she asked.
Mike shrugged. “Couldn’t have been anybody else. Trust the evidence. Didn’t they use to say that on some TV show?”
Annaliese huffed and tapped her fingers together on her lap. “I don’t know. I’ve forgotten what watching television is like.” She leant back on the bench and felt her spine creak. “So, you think Nick did it, then?”
“I guess. Wouldn’t have pegged him as the killing kind before it happened, but I suppose none of us are in any position to trust one another.”
“Don’t you trust me?” Annaliese asked, surprised by the fact she was actually hurt by the comment.
Mike blushed. His angular cheeks bloomed with colour. “Of course I trust you. You’re the exception.”
Annaliese smiled at him. “Good! Because one of the only things keeping me sane is knowing that I have you.”
Mike leant towards her and they kissed. When they broke apart a minute later the world had gone dark. It took a couple of seconds before Annaliese realised that the shadow was coming from a person standing behind them. Before she could look up and see who it was, something heavy struck her head and things got darker still.
Chapter Thirty-Six
It was night time when Annaliese opened her eyes again. She had a bizarre feeling of being both inside and outside at the same time. When she realised she was sitting inside a greenhouse, the feeling made sense.
Where is this place?
She lifted her head and winced as a lump throbbed at the back of her skull. She was tied up, bound to a chair by her wrists. Mike was beside her. He was unconscious.
“Mike,” she whispered. “Mike, wake up.”
Mike didn’t move.
“I think he may be asleep a little while longer,” said a voice she knew. Shawcross emerged from the shadows at the back of the greenhouse, wearing a wide smile across his face. “He received quite the blow to the back of his head. Might not wake up at all.”
Annaliese spat at him. Just seeing the man made her skin crawl. He was obviously the one behind her current predicament and it made her furious that he felt he had any right to tie her up. “Shawcross, you fucking weasel. Get me out of this chair now.”
Shawcross grinned even wider. Moonlight glinted off his gappy teeth and greasy hair. “Now, now,” he purred. “There’s no need for such hostility. I’ve let you in on my little secret. You should be honoured.”
Annaliese looked at him with disgust. “What secret?”
Shawcross stretched his arms wide and gestured to his surroundings. “What do you think? I found the greenhouse. There are enough plants in here and crops outside to sustain a small group of us indefinitely. A small group.”
“When did you find it?”
“After you all turned on me and put that brute Dave in charge. I was going to leave, try and make it on my own someplace, but on my trek through the woods I found this place. Besides, I couldn’t leave Ripley Hall to you peasants. I need to be nearby for when it’s reopened someday. I am its manager after all.”
Annaliese looked around at the greenhouse interior. There were long shelves, three tiers high, which brimmed with tomato plants, cucumbers, and a whole host of other fruit and vegetables. She spotted something else, too. Stacked up in the corner of the building was all of the group’s missing supplies.
“You took the supplies?” she said. “All the shit you gave me, and it was you!”
Shawcross laughed. “Not exactly, but close enough. Like I said, there’s enough here for a small group to survive indefinitely. Our current group, however, is slightly too large.”
Annaliese’s stomach rolled as she absorbed the comment and thought about what he meant. “What are you playing at, Shawcross?” she demanded, rocking back and forth. “Untie me from this goddamn chair.”
Shawcross gazed at her sadly. “I’m afraid I cannot do that, Anna. I’m sorry that things have ended up like this, because I always liked you.”
“I always thought you were a stuck-up prick.”
Shawcross growled. “Well, then I thank you for making this easier for me.”
“You can’t seriously be planning to kill me?”
Shawcross slapped a palm against his forehead. “Have you listened to a word I’ve said? That’s exactly what I plan on doing. The whole group of us won’t make it through with the food we have. We’ll eat ourselves to death in a matter of months. But, with a few less mouths to feed, we’ll be just fine. Nick is locked up with that imbecile, Renee, and you and Mike are here with me, about to be disposed of. To my knowledge that is all of the troublemakers dealt with.”
“Troublemakers?”
Shawcross nodded. “Yes. You and Mike have been quite outspoken in your defiance of me. Today it became unfortunately clear that neither of you were going to come around to my way of thinking. You don’t respect my authority.”
“That’s because you have none.”
Shawcross’s lip turned downwards in a scowl. “Don’t I? Just look at the position you’re in. Look at what happened to Nick after he attacked me. Look what happened to Dave for going up against me.” Shawcross seemed to try and stop himself before he finished the sentence, but it was too late. His scowl turned into a frown and then a smirk. “Oops! Whatever have I said?”
“You killed Dave!” Annaliese spat.
“Of course I didn’t. I was with you the whole time.”
“Then how?”
“Not for you to worry about, Anna. You know, it really is such a pity that you couldn’t respect my authority. If civilisation is over as we know it, then you and I would have made a great match for a repopulat
ion effort.”
Annaliese felt revulsion. “I’d rather fuck a pig.”
Shawcross scowled at her again. The look on his face became almost inhuman; so full of hate and malice, twisted insecurities. He pointed a finger in her face. “What? You think I’m not good enough for you? You pick a pathetic dogsbody like Mike – a man with zero ambition, zero intelligence, zero-”
Mike flew out of his chair, ropes hanging loose around his wrists. He tumbled forwards into Shawcross and tackled the man to the ground.
“I’m intelligent enough to get the drop on you, you greasy-haired motherfucker,” he said, as he straddled Shawcross and let fly with his fists.
While this was going on, Annaliese began struggling with her own bonds. The ropes were strong, but the chair was not. As she pulled and wiggled, she felt the joints of the old wooden chair begin to loosen. The armrests began to rotate back and forth.
Just a little bit more.
Mike continued pummelling Shawcross on the floor. Annaliese shouted for his attention. “Mike! Come help me.”
He looked around and saw her struggling to get free of the chair. He got up off Shawcross and ran over to help her.
“One sec,” he said, grabbing at the ropes around her arms. Annaliese twisted her wrists and started to pull. It hurt badly, but she managed to drag her hands out through the knots inch by inch.
Almost there…
The ropes slipped away and she was free. She held her hands out in front of her and rubbed at her stinging flesh. A layer of skin had been grazed away and had left a red ring around each of her wrists.
“Come on,” said Mike, grabbing her. “Let’s get out of here. We need to tell the others about what this piece of shit has done. Then we can all decide what to do with him. I vote for lynching.”
That would be too good for him.
Annaliese jumped up from the chair and looked down at Shawcross on the floor. He had rolled onto his side and was looking up at her with hazy eyes that were slowly regaining their focus.
“You son of a bitch.” She skipped forward and kicked him in the ribs. The wind exploded out of him with a pained gasp. She kicked him again.
When she was done, she turned back to Mike and the two of them headed for the exit at the rear end of the greenhouse. She had no idea where they were and hoped it would be easy to find their way back to the park.
I’m too weary to be getting lost in the woods.
As they hurried, Annaliese had a sudden, random thought.
How did Shawcross have time to drag both me and Mike out here to the woods? And how did he kill Dave while he was with us the whole time? He couldn’t have done it alone.
“I can’t believe this,” said Mike. “Was he always this much of an asshole or was it-”
Mike stopped mid-sentence. He stumbled back against a rack of root vegetables and placed his hands on his stomach as if he’d had a sudden, agonising case of cramp.
Slowly, Mike turned to face her. A long knife stuck out of his stomach.
A stranger stepped out of the shadows.
Before Annaliese had time to act, Mike threw himself at the stranger, wrapping both his arms around their waist like a dying octopus. He managed to turn his head and shout one last thing at her.
“Run!” he screamed. “Run!”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Annaliese burst through the greenhouse’s exit and found herself in an open field. Deep woods surrounded it on all sides.
Which way do I go?
Behind her, the sound of a struggle as Mike fought to keep the unknown attacker restrained. It would not be long before he weakened and the man became free to chase after her. There was no choice left but to just pick a direction and get moving.
God, I hope this is the right way.
She shot off across the field as fast as her legs would carry her. Roots and unearthed vegetables tripped her as she fought desperately to stay upright. Several times she stumbled onto her hands and knees, but each time, she clambered back to her feet and kept on moving.
Can’t let him catch me.
She pierced the treeline of the woods at the edge of the field. Darkness enveloped her completely. The moon battled to get through the leafy canopy and succeeded only with a few thin shafts of light. It was like running with her eyes closed. The only sounds were that of the snapping twigs beneath her boots.
Am I being followed? Is Mike dead?
Annaliese panted and gasped as panic took over her. She realised that the sounds of her heavy breathing would give her away if she did not get it under control. She slowed down to a cautious jog and, as she took each deep breath, she held it for a few seconds, before letting it out slowly.
Got to stay calm. Fear will just lead to bad decisions.
“Here pussy, pussy, pussy.”
The voice was far off, but still near enough to stoke her panic anew. She didn’t recognise the voice, and she hadn’t recognised the man back at the greenhouse.
If he’s coming after me now, then that must mean…
Annaliese prayed to God that Mike was okay. She prayed because it was the only thing she could think to do.
I have to get out of these woods. If I don’t then it’s only a matter of time until he finds me.
Who the hell is he?
Has there been another survivor amongst us this whole time? Someone only Shawcross knew about?
Annaliese headed off in a random direction, hoping it would lead her towards the park and away from the stranger hunting her. Her eyes adjusted to the dark and the oily blackness became a fuzzy grey. The shapes of the trees gradually made themselves visible and she could dodge between them. But she still had no idea where she was going. She was lost in the woods.
Like Little Red Riding Hood.
“Just stop running, girl. I’ll be gentle, I promise.”
Annaliese jinked around a bush full of nettles and headed for a tight cropping of trees. Her feet collided with several hard objects on the ground. She looked down and saw that they were apples. She had entered some kind of orchard.
I don’t recognise any of this.
“Bitch, you’re winding me up now. Just stop running. Give it up.”
Fuck you! Annaliese almost shouted it out, but quickly stopped herself. The last thing she wanted to do was give away her position.
She ran through a copse of apple tree and headed for a clearing at the end. Her pursuer continued shouting and threating behind her, but that only made it clear that he did not know where she was.
As long as he’s getting frustrated, I still have a chance.
Annaliese broke out of the orchard and entered an area that was much more open. It wasn’t a great place to be and lacked any kind of cover. A couple of hundred metres into the clearing, the woods renewed once more. She would have to make it over there before her pursuer made it out into the open and spotted her.
She ran, jumping over ruts and dodging dips. It looked like an area that had seen the regular use of vehicles, if the bare patches of mud and wide divots were anything to go by. It was an encouraging sign as it might mean she’d find a path or dirt road leading back to the park.
“Bitch, I gonna find you. Then I gonna party wid you.”
The voice was getting closer. She might have only seconds before he found the clearing and put eyes on her.
Got to make it back into the trees.
He’ll be here any second.
Got to run faster...
Annaliese felt as if her knees were turning to jelly as she thudded across the hard mud. The treeline was tantalisingly close, and yet she just couldn’t seem to make it.
Seconds went by. She continued to run.
The treeline got closer and closer.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are?”
Annaliese broke through the treeline, just as she heard her attacker’s voice echo in the clearing. She had made it with no seconds to spare.
Then something moved up ahead of her and she sc
reamed.
Oh no!
Her pursuer heard her cries.
“I hear you, bitch. Now you in big trouble.”
Shit, shit, shit!
Annaliese looked forward, trying to see what had startled her. When she looked up at the trees, she realised it was Lily. The orang-utan looked down at her and hooted. Then she waved a hand.
Bizarrely, Annaliese found herself waving back, but she quickly got moving again; her life in the balance. She was running out of breath. The stitch in her side was enough to drop an elephant. She had to keep going, but she knew she didn’t have much more left in the tank.
I’m going to collapse.
Lily swung from the tree branch on which she was perched and leapt to the next tree over. Then she crouched down and stared at Annaliese.
Annaliese stared back. “What?”
Lily hooted.
“You want me to follow?”
Lily hooted again and then swung to the next tree.
Annaliese followed.
As soon as she caught up with Lily, the orang-utan swung to the next tree, and then the next and the next, sometimes altering direction slightly, but mainly keeping a straight course. Annaliese used the last of her reserves to keep running.
I hope you know where you’re going, Lily.
“I see you, bitch,” shouted the stranger behind her. “Time to give it up for Daddy.”
“Oh God.” Annaliese let out a scream. Lily continued swinging from tree to tree. She followed the orang-utan as fast as she could.
I can’t keep going. I can’t…
Up ahead, the gap between the trees widened. The moonlight there was brighter.
Please, please, please, let this be the park.
She reached the edge of the woods and leapt out into the moonlight. Her legs gave way and she fell, face first, onto the hard, unforgiving ground.
Pavement? This is the park. I made it!
“Now you’re fucked, sweetheart.”
She spun around onto her back, but she didn’t have the energy to get up. She was done for.
The stranger exited the woods and stood over her. It was too dark to make the man out; to even see his basic details.
Who the hell are you?
Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel Page 31
