by Ian Woodhead
Tony pinched the webbing between thumb and forefinger on his other hand as hard as he could. It didn’t feel like squeezing raw pastry, it felt like skin, just as it should do. “What the fuck is wrong with this picture?”
The closed doors painted him a similar mental picture of the tower block’s inhabitants all going through the same degradation. The moans and sounds of misery assaulted his senses, making him feel sick to the stomach. The simple fact was that everyone he knew would soon be dead. Judging by the rate of decay he’d seen with the big guy, by the time the sun came up there wouldn’t be much left of anybody apart from a pile of wet bones and scraps of rotting skin.
“This picture needs to change,” he muttered, trying to keep his equilibrium steady. “What can I do though?” Tony rushed towards the partitioned mesh, having no idea where he was going or what he would do when he got there. The booth was unoccupied, not that this surprised him. He skidded to a halt and looked at the gun held in his hands. “They need to get off this world, every one of them.” Tony turned back around, remembering the words spoken by his wife. How had those soldiers found him?
“They asked me how I traveled without using the gates.” Tony leaned against the wall. “What fucking gates?” No matter how hard he tried, Tony could not picture those three men carrying his unconscious body all the way along the dark streets and through these corridors, not in their condition. “They must have appeared in our apartment then, it’s the only explanation left.”
He raced back, hoping to get there before they all turned into puddles of lumpy soup. Tony slowed down when he saw movement. The door next to his swung inwards and his neighbor struggled out into the hallway. Her look of gratitude at the sight of him soon changed to utter terror when her eyes found their way to the large black rifle gripped in Tony’s hand.
“What are you doing?” she stammered.
As he took a step towards her, she squealed and jumped back into her apartment. Tony ran forwards and pushed the door wide. He dropped the gun and ran towards the woman, grabbing her around her waist. “Will you please calm down, Mrs. Sykes? It’s me, it’s Tony. I’m not going to hurt you.” He spun her around and wiped the tears from her face. “Come on, try to relax. I want to help.”
Her eyes flickered over to the bathroom. Tony guided her towards an armchair, wincing when he noticed her television was showing the grisly sight of a bunch of zombies fighting over lumps of meat in a large pit. He didn’t want to think about whom those vile things had just ripped apart.
He kneeled in front of her. “What’s in the bathroom?”
“Henry is,” she whispered. “There’s something wrong with him. He crawled in there ten minutes ago and refused to open the door.” She looked down at the ends of her fingers and moaned. “I’ve got it as well. I can’t feel my fingers anymore.”
Her flesh had already partially melted. Just like all the others, she was going the same way. Tony took her wrist and pulled her up, realizing that there was no way he could leave her here. He then saw a wet trail leading to the bathroom door. He shuddered, knowing that her poor husband was beyond any help that he could give him.
“It’s time to go,” he said, taking her towards the outer door. “I think I can help you, Mrs. Sykes.”
Her protests fell on deaf ears and they quickly stopped when Tony retrieved the gun. It felt as though he was dragging a terrified poodle. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ll get you fixed up.”
“What about Jacob? I can’t leave my husband, he needs me.”
Tony didn’t answer her. It seemed like the wisest choice. His door to the apartment stood wide open and two bodies were lying in the middle of the carpet. They were both dead. He caught his breath with grief when the one sprawled across the floor in front of a guard turned out to be his wife.
He stepped over her body, trying not to stare at her liquefying flesh dripping into the carpet fibers. The woman in his grip stopped, refusing to step over Ellen’s body.
“What are you going to do to me?” she cried.
Her terrified eyes stared deep into his. All he saw in there was complete fear. She had no comprehension of what was happening. Her conditioned, unsubversive mind saw the bodies and his gun and thought that all this was his fault.
“I told you to come over here, woman,” he barked, raising the gun. “Don’t make me say it again.” He felt like such a shit for scaring her, even if it did work. Mrs. Sykes gracefully jumped over the melting bodies and allowed him to pull her quivering body further into the room.
Tony skirted past the table and approached the only figure left in one piece, shaking his head in wonder at the sight of the big man still slumped against the wall. Although he showed more degradation than the others, somehow, the man was still alive; even more astonishing, he was conscious. He opened his eyes and lifted his head when Tony crouched down in front of him.
“Tell me how you jumped! he demanded. “Come on, I need to know how you did it.”
The man’s eyes glazed over. Tony fought the urge to punch him, believing that if he did that, his hand would probably disappear into his flesh.
“Please,” he whispered. “Kill me, Tony. Put that gun against my head and pull the trigger.”
“Your girlfriend is already dead, you know. So is the overman.” He ran his eyes up and down his degrading body. “Does it hurt?”
The goon moaned weakly. “Please, just end me, I can’t take anymore.”
“I think all of you have been very selfish. I mean, have you any idea of the mess you’ve made? You should have at least done this in the bath.”
“Fuck you.”
He placed the muzzle of the gun against the man’s temple, his gorge rising when the metal sank into the man’s flesh. It was like pushing a pen into wet clay.
“Do it.”
“I will as soon as you tell me how you jump from one world to another.”
“It’s already in your hand, Tony. The gate is built into the weapon. Disengage the side panel. It’s the grey block directly above the trigger guard.”
Tony followed his instructions, grinning when the panel slid back to display a recessed compartment with two black buttons next to each other.
“The one on the left will take you to the Source World.”
Tony stood back and took hold of the woman’s wrist, keeping his hold firm, without squeezing. Her flesh now felt like warm wax.
“You promised to end me!” cried the goon.
“I know I did.” Tony said. He turned the woman around, then raised the rifle and slowly squeezed the trigger. The goon’s head detonated, splattering stinking, wet slop across the wall. “I just didn’t want your mess all over me.”
“I’m going to be sick.”
“No you won’t,” Tony said, not unkindly. “Just don’t look.” He had the feeling that if she did throw up, half of her internal organs would follow her last meal as well. “Close your eyes, Mrs. Sykes, and don’t open them until I say so.” He hoped to fuck that this would work. Tony pressed the button and squeezed his own eyes shut as dazzling white light shot through his eyelids. He jerked his head down before tentatively opening them again. He smiled at the sight of bright green grass under his feet.
They had done it. There had been a nagging doubt in his head that the gun might have self-destructed, a safety measure to prevent unauthorized persons from using the device. He grinned and breathed in a lungful of clean but cold air, feeling the pure atmosphere of this world cleanse the foul dirt that clung to his insides like mud sticking to a wall. Obviously their extreme paranoia didn’t extend to their goons. He looked up at the beautiful blue sky. Even so, those people could have flipped over here at any time and just lost themselves in this unspoilt world and nobody would have been able to find them. Was their brainwashing that secure?
Tony blinked a few times, dismissing the thought. Who cared about them, he had more important priorities to worry over. He turned and watched the woman turn her head from side to si
de, taking in the landscape of endless green fields. He put his arm on her shoulder and turned her around. “I see you’re lost for words, Mrs. Sykes.” He looked at the clump of tall buildings to the left of them. Even from here he could see how the green had encroached into the city. The closest building had already lost the battle with nature. He squinted, leaning forward and staring at the vine-covered structure, sure that he had seen movement.
“Have we gone back in time, Tony?” Mrs. Sykes uttered, “back to before all those horrible dead things came to life?”
He lifted the woman’s hand to examine the ends of her fingers. The flesh had not healed, but it looked like the rot had stopped, at least for the moment. “When did you last take your tablet?”
“A couple of hours ago, I think.”
“And when did you have anything to eat?”
“I can’t remember. I’ve never been a big eater. Tony, please, I don’t understand any of this. What has my diet have to do with any of this?”
Being away from their vile world must have some kind of beneficial effect. He only needed to look at himself to see that. Perhaps being away helped the tablets to destroy the toxins present in the contaminated meat more efficiently. If that was the case, his sole survivor from his apartment building might even live, if she could get more tablets.
“No, Mrs. Sykes, it doesn’t look like a scene from the past, but the explanation is more fantastical. We’re on another world, a world very much like ours. There are dead things here as well, just not as many.”
“It’s so beautiful.” The woman stiffened and grabbed his arm tight. “Oh no, Tony, we’re not alone here.”
Three figures approached them from behind the closest building. He knew he’d seen movement. There were a number of men, women, and children, all walking out of open doorways. What an incredible sight. Although the buildings were obviously close to collapse, none of the people seemed to care. He looked beyond them, looking for any sign of dead people but saw nothing.
“What do we do?”
“Just relax,” he said, recognizing Joseph and Stephen. He gently pulled the hand off his arm. “They’re friends.” He walked over to the group, spotting another familiar face standing behind Joseph. He nodded a greeting at Mortimer.
“I need your help, Joseph,” he said. “Please, we have to get our people over here before they all die.”
Joseph shook his head. “Not a chance. This is what I want.”
He gaped at the man. “But these are just normal people, they’ve done you no harm. The ones that run the city are all dead. Please, show mercy.”
Joseph’s face gave nothing away. He stared at the woman for a moment before turning to Mortimer. “Take her back to the camp and make sure she’s treated well.” He stared at Tony. “I can’t help you. The process had already started and there’s no stopping it now. I’m sorry about your world, really I am but my priorities lie here, on my world.”
“But you’re going to kill them all, they’ll all die.”
Joseph nodded. “Don’t you think I don’t know that?” he shouted. “What else was I supposed to do? This is the fault of your people, not mine. Are you honestly trying to tell me that none of you had the balls to get rid of your corrupt regime? Fuck you all, thanks to your cowardice, those bastards almost wiped us out!”
“So this is how it ends?”
“No, it isn’t the end, this is a new beginning. We’re going to collapse the bridge to your vile world and open another one. I know what you must think of me, but I’m not the bad guy here.” The man held out his hand. “Tony, please stay here with us. There is nothing left in your world now but death.”
Chapter Eighteen
He ran to the far side of the room and pressed his face tight against the cold bars in an effort to see where the shouting was coming from. All Kenny could see were his two guards raising their blunt-nosed weapons and pointing them at the metal door that separated the cells from the rest of the building. The older of the pair, a thin man in his late forties, noticed Kenny staring and pointed his gun at him instead.
“I only have to apply a tiny amount of pressure and your lovely sister’s face will be covered with your warm brains.”
Kenny grinned back. “I’ve seen you around, you know. It took me a while to place your faces. It’s the uniform that threw me. You two are snipes.” Kenny chuckled. “They must be pretty desperate to trust you two scumbags with proper guns.”
The man growled and ran over to the cage and smacked the stock against the bars. “I mean it, fuckwit, open your mouth one more time and I will kill you.”
Kenny shook his head. “No you won’t, and we both know it. You touch us and Rossini will feed you both to the dead.” He cocked his head as the sounds of shouting got louder. “They’re coming to get you,” he said. “That’s my friends out there, on their way to fuck you up.” Kenny had no idea what the noise was. He did know that if he didn’t get him and Diane out of here, their luck would be well and truly over. Both of the men out there had been on edge ever since the lights went out. He figured that if he wound them up enough, then one of them might be foolish enough to open that cage door in order to dish out a beating. It was a long shot but he had no other viable plan.
“Shut the fuck up!” screamed the other man.
Kenny stuck his tongue out at him. That guy reminded him of the bastard who had been close to grabbing Kenny in that alleyway. They were of similar age. This dark-haired fool didn’t have the other snipe’s animal-like cunning though. “Is that one your son, buddy? I mean, you do look at lot like each other, you’re both fucking ugly for a start.”
His insults didn’t appear to be having any effect anymore. Both guards had left their positions and had rushed over to the door, each one taking up position at either side.
“Greg, as soon as they rush in, shoot that mouthy bastard and his sister.” The older guard chuckled. “We’ll tell Rossini that their friends did it.” He cocked his rifle and pressed his back against the wall. “Okay, get ready.”
Kenny saw the gleam in the boy’s eye. He ran over to where his sister lay and dragged her into the corner of the cell. Perhaps the boy’s bullets would strike the bars first, giving their rescuers time to kill the bastard before he filled them full of holes. The bolt on the other side of the door slid back. Kenny wrapped his arms around Diane. Even if he died, at least his sister would survive.
He heard the door slam back and the sound of automatic gunfire. Both Kenny and Diane screamed out, but despite anticipating the agonizing sensation of bullets thudding into his back, nothing happened. The gunfire deafened him. He looked into his sister’s eyes, seeing she was as confused as him. He turned his head and saw three dead things in the outer room. Two of them were already dead, but the other one had managed to grab hold of the older guy and had pulled him onto the floor. His younger partner sat in the corner, not moving, just watching the dead thing bite chunks out of the other man’s face. His mouth was frozen open with a silent scream.
Kenny saw another figure enter the cell and smiled with relief at the sight of Natalie. She shot the dead thing once in the head before walking up to the young guard and kicking his weapon out of his hands.
“If you move from that spot, little man, I’ll hurt you bad. Do we understand each other?”
The young guard nodded.
“I’m sorry I took so long,” said Natalie, rushing over to the bars. “Wait, where’s the lock?”
Kenny tapped the metal panel next to her waist. “I think it’s magnetic. Joseph swiped a card over that plate after he threw us in here.”
“So, why were they here then?” Natalie took a deep breath. “More to the point, why didn’t these doors open when I disrupted the power? Look, don’t worry. There’s more men coming from Source World. I’ll get them to open a hole into the cell so we can get you out before we collapse this bridge.” She turned around. “Hey there, little man, you don’t look so good. I don’t think any of them will last
longer than a few more days now. It looks like the infected food has started to work.” The woman grinned. “It’s taken long enough, they’re been contaminating the supply for months now.”
“How long do we have before the other guards get down here?”
“Not long. Look, don’t worry. We’ll be long gone before they get down here.” She smiled. “We’ve done it. We’ve found a virgin world to bridge ours to Food World.” She pushed her hands through the bars. “It’s all thanks to you, Kenny.”
“Me, what did I do?”
“We have no idea what you did. Only that when we fought off their men and gained access to our gate, there was one more coordinate logged into the system. It checks out as well.”
“I don’t remember doing anything,” he muttered. Kenny thought back to being in that room, going over everything he’d heard. He had felt connected to the voices, that much he did know; he had no idea what the songs were, though, or for that matter, why they chose to sing to him.
“Don’t let it trouble you. This is it, we’ve done it. We’ll get you joined up with Mortimer and together you two can save the rest of us. You both carry different parts of the cure to this thing.”
“Kenny, move back!”
His sister ripped him off the bars as the cell door slid back. “How did that happen?” he said, looking at Natalie.
She shrugged. “It wasn’t me.” She ran over to the guard and picked him up, dragging the youth over to the desk. “Log into your computer and find out what’s going on.”
Kenny put his hands on Diane’s waist. “How do you feel now?”
Diane lifted up her arm. “Take a look, Kenny.”
As Diane pulled her hand away from the wound, pieces of her skin stuck to the palm of her hand. She hurriedly wiped it on her jeans. “What’s happening?” she whispered. “I feel like I’m falling apart.”
