E-Virus: Emily's Journey

by Ward, Jessica

  They had now driven into more of a built-up area. They had left the residential homes behind as office buildings began to tower over them. Boris slowed the bus as they headed into Spinningfields. The area around her was beginning to look familiar. This was the part of Manchester she could hardly afford to go out in. Not that she was very much into nights out.

  Her lack of social skills meant that it was very rare for her to be approached by the opposite sex. In all honesty men barely acknowledged her when they bumped straight into her, often without apology, let alone buy her a drink. She knew she was invisible, and she was okay with it. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.

  On this occasion, as she stared out of the window, all eyes were on her.

  A small group of the living dead stood on the corner of Hardman Street. Suits with decaying faces and blood stained teeth followed the bus with glazed eyes and hungry expressions. Boris dare not speak as he slowly passed them, veering to the other side of the road, putting as much distance between him and them as possible.

  The undead made no effort to move. As the bus veered out of sight Emily heard a distinct howl, coming from the direction of the group. Perhaps they were alerting others to our presence? Emily asked herself. She drifted off into self-wonderment as the bus pushed further into the city.

  “Not as many as I thought there would be.” Boris speculated. “I thought this whole place would be crawling with them.”

  “Maybe as their food source became harder to come by, they migrated elsewhere.” Emily calculated. “Lots of animals both on land and sea do.”

  “What have I told you about them? They aren’t animals, not species or any of this other bollocks. Their dangerous.” Boris shouted behind him whilst taking a big swig of whiskey.

  Emily rolled her eyes. She rested her head on the cool window pane with her head in her hands. She did not approve of drinking and driving, regardless of whether the law still applied or not.

  Chapter 6

  Howls emanated from all directions as the bus pushed on, making both Boris and Emily incredibly uneasy. “They are definitely communicating with one another.” Emily’s voice trembled.

  Thinking on his feet, Boris tore down Byrom Street and used the bus as a blockade down a small residential road. He cut the engine as the howling drew closer. “We need to get out of dodge.” Boris warned. They had trapped themselves outside a small apartment block.

  Boris grabbed his backpack and opened the doors. Emily grabbed as many of the supplies as she could carry as they assessed the area around them. They had found themselves in a relatively new, clean complex. The apartment building was only two stories high. Each level seemed to house around eight different flats, from what Emily could work out.

  As Emily studied each block for an opening, she was sure that she had noticed the curtains move from the apartment directly above them. “This way.” Boris urged as they ran towards the entranceway.

  Boris grabbed his crowbar as he pushed his bodyweight against the locked door. The infected had come in hordes and were just starting to come into view. “Quickly.” Emily pressed. “I’m trying here.” Boris snapped back.

  Without warning a loud buzz rang out as Boris almost fell through the newly unlocked door. Both Boris and Emily raced in and slammed the door behind them as the first of the infected groups appeared along the path.

  “This way.” A strange voice whispered from upstairs.

  The small communal entranceway that Emily and Boris found themselves in seemed relatively modern. Neither one of them hesitated as they raced up the stairs and towards the voice.

  As they reached the top of the stairs, a young girl, no older than fifteen was waiting for them. She had a stern expression, she did not look very impressed at all. She ushered them through, into the apartment and slammed the door behind them.

  “Idiots.” The young girl scorned.

  Boris ignored the child and walked straight in. Emily hung back, a little unsure of how to react. “thank you for helping us.” Emily mumbled. The girl rolled her eyes, “it’s not like we had a choice, is it?” she huffed. She pushed past Emily and went into her bedroom, slamming yet another door.

  “Chloe! What the fuck? What part of stay quiet do you not understand?” a voice reprimanded from the other end of the hallway.

  “Like it matters now.” Chloe shouted from behind the closed door.

  “I’m sorry about that. She didn’t want to let you in.” The man said as he came into view.

  “Still don’t.” Chloe shouted. The man shook his head and ignored his little sister. “Please, come in.”

  “As soon as the crowd leaves, we’ll be on our way.” Boris advised. As they stepped into the dimly lit living room, Emily got her first glimpse of the man.

  He wasn’t overly tall, he stood at around five foot nine. He had a slim figure and he was dressed in baggy joggers and a tight t-shirt. He had short auburn hair and a bristly, close trimmed beard. He was very attractive, and Emily knew he was way out of her league.

  “I’m Chris, the little brat sulking in her bedroom is Chloe.”

  “Good to meet you Chris, my name is Boris, this here is young Emily.”

  Emily grimaced at Boris’ introduction. She hated being referred to as young. I’m twenty-five for god’s sake, Emily screamed in her head.

  “Nice to meet you, young Emily.” Chris smiled as he shook her hand. Emily blushed.

  “Are you related, or?” Chris asked. Emily shook her head. “No, we only just met earlier today.”

  “It seems like you’ve had a bit of eventful day today.” Chris observed.

  “Yes, you could say that.” Boris chimed in. Boris continued to recount the events of the day as Emily sat on the corner of the sofa, biting the skin from her nails.

  Boris was careful to skip over the details surrounding Emily’s uncle, and the where it was they were heading. He would leave that decision to Emily, after all it wasn’t his place to say. Boris was not an overly trusting person, and he barely knew these people. He did not know Chris, or his twat of a sister well enough to consider them trustworthy.

  Besides, Chloe was the type of person he wished had been eliminated in this world. He knew it was harsh, but Boris didn’t care. He didn’t have the patience for insolence.

  The day soon turned to night. Boris stayed close to the window, and he kept on watch. Chris sat in the living room with Emily as they dug into an array of crisps and snacks which Emily had taken from the bus. Emily felt that it was only fair to share her supplies with them, after all, they had saved both her and Boris and opened up their home to them.

  Chloe stayed locked in her bedroom. She refused to eat anything, or speak to anyone. Boris did not hide his disdain for the girl.

  Chris was a peacekeeper by nature, he did not like to get involved in arguments, he preferred people to be happy.

  Boris watched the undead beneath them. The small herd had calmed considerably since he and Emily had first entered the building. The position of the bus had acted as a wall, keeping the majority of the undead out, however, a few had slipped through into outer areas of the apartment complex.

  The undead moved stiffly, swaying from side to side in the breeze. They reminded him of cows grazing in a field. They seemed to know that a food source was close, but they couldn’t seem to grasp whereabouts it was.

  Chris had insisted that Emily and Boris stay with them for the night. Boris was not thrilled by the prospect of spending more time with these strangers, but Chris seemed a nice enough lad. If only he would let him feed his sister to the undead, that would give the three of them plenty of time to get away. It was a plan that Boris had not totally discounted yet.

  Chapter 7

  The next morning, after an extremely comfortable night’s sleep, Emily awoke to the smell of fried bacon. For a couple of moments, Emily had completely forgotten where she was and how she had gotten there. She just lay on the sofa enjoying the sweet aromas that were overwhelming
her senses.

  “Breakfast.” Chloe mumbled as she stood over Emily with a plate in her hand. The chip on her shoulder was ever present.

  “Oh. Thank you.” Emily replied taking the plate from her hand. Chloe threw herself down on the sofa next to Emily squashing Emily’s feet.

  “So. When are you leaving?” Chloe asked, a little too over eager. “Those things are gone, so really, once you’ve finished, you can leave, can’t you?” This seemed more of a demand than a question.

  Chloe had a stern look on her face. She was tall and slim with long dark hair. Although her brother was a lot older than she was, she was close to his height. The only similarities they shared was that of their facial features. They shared the same nose and the same eyes.

  “Chloe!” Chris started as he walked into the room. “Good morning.” His expression changed as he greeted Emily.

  “Morning.” Emily mumbled as she averted her eyes, not wishing to make eye contact.

  “It’s my house too you know.” Chloe barked at her brother. “Mum left it for both of us.”

  Emily was feeling very uncomfortable. She pushed the bacon around her plate as the siblings either side of her continued their argument.

  “We have all lost people we have loved. Get over it.” Boris snapped as he entered the room. “It’s just the way it is now.” He finished.

  Chloe glared at him as she stormed off and went back to her room. I’d call that progress. Boris thought to himself.

  “I found this at the back of a cupboard, I hope you don’t mind?” Boris asked holding up a hop flask.

  “By all means, take it. I didn’t even know it was there to be honest.” Chris replied.

  “Splendid” Boris beamed scurrying over to his backpack. “This is just what I need.” He told Chris and Emily whilst pouring his remaining whiskey into his flask, “travel sized” he announced.

  “Are you about ready to go?” Boris asked Emily. “We should be able to make good time.”

  Before Emily had a chance to respond Chris interrupted. “You never mentioned whereabouts you are going?” he asked.

  “A place called Woodford.” Emily told him. She still couldn’t bring herself to look at him, she was still far too shy around him, but she had a good feeling about Chris.

  “What’s in Woodford?” He asked.

  “My uncle.” Emily answered. “He sent me a text message yesterday. I didn’t think phone signals were still active.”

  “Neither did we.” Chris frowned. “Ours ran out of battery on the third day, we thought that was pretty good going, smart phones for you, hey.”

  Emily didn’t own a smart phone, she never really had the interest. As a scientist, especially when out in the field, her phone needs were more practical. She had a yellow and black Tough Phone. It could call, it could text and it had a crappy camera. That’s all she needed. More importantly for her, it was water resistant, dust resistant and shock proof.

  She wasn’t a complete technophobe, she did have a laptop which she used to surf the internet, keep up with Facebook and of course us to complete any research and reports.

  Boris continued to fill in the blanks as he noticed Emily retreat back into herself. He hadn’t known Emily for very long, but he was a good judge of character. He knew this girl meant no harm, but he wasn’t blind to her imperfections.

  He saw how awkward she was around him at first, there were times where he felt he could literally see the cogs turning in her mind as she struggled to formulate a response.

  “Can we come with you?” Chris asked. Boris looked a little taken aback, this was not the response he was expecting.

  “Why would you want to leave?” He asked.

  “You know as well as I do that we can’t stay here forever. Our food supplies are already running low. Before you guys came along I had no idea how we were going to survive the next few days, let alone the next few weeks. I can’t drive, and Chloe is at an awkward age. Our best chance of survival is to stick with others. Safety in numbers and all that.”

  The three of them sat in awkward silence for a few moments.

  “We will do our part to help. I know Chloe hasn’t made the best impression, but I promise…”

  “No she hasn’t.” Boris interrupted, his voice stern. “Emily, can we have a moment?” he asked.

  Emily nodded and they made their way into the small kitchen.

  “I’m not very comfortable with this.” Boris started. “We don’t know them very well, and to be perfectly honest, I’d rather slit my own throat then travel anywhere with that shit.” He said pointing towards Chloe’s room.

  Emily sighed. She looked into Boris’ eyes. He could see her eyes moving, her little cogs going into overdrive. For the first time, it was her that seemed to be in charge. It was her uncle that Boris was risking his life for, so she owed it to him to take his thoughts and feelings into consideration.

  On the other hand, she knew that leaving Chris and Chloe here could be dangerous. She also had a debt to them as they had saved both Boris and Emily, albeit reluctantly.

  “We have to take them with us.” Emily finally spoke.

  Boris frowned, but he accepted her decision without dispute. “Are you sure about this?” he whispered. She nodded back.

  “Okay, Missy. We will take them with us.” He reassured.

  They broke the good news to Chris and he went to break the news to Chloe, whilst Boris and Emily began to pack.

  Chapter 8

  Chloe had yet to resurface from her cave, however Emily and Boris were hearing a lot of strange banging and slamming. Is this what normal teenagers do? Emily asked herself. She never caused her parents any kind of aggravation growing up. She either had her head buried in a book, or she was outside. Emily never had many friends, but the ones she had she treasured.

  Her oldest friend Niya, she had grown up with. They had met in Primary School. Niya was a little Indian girl that some of the boys used to make fun of, because she was different.

  Although Emily wasn’t made fun of, no one on the playground wanted to speak to Emily, and Emily didn’t know how to speak to them. So, from that moment on, Emily and Niya would sit together in a quiet corner of the playground.

  Both girls were highly intelligent. As they grew up their interests differed. Niya’s parents were both GP’s, she had been pushed to follow in their footsteps and the last Emily heard she was studying medicine in Oxford University. She was well on her way to getting her doctorate.

  Emily thought of Niya often. She wondered how her studies were going, if she had met any nice boys, and as of late, Emily simply wondered if Niya was still alive.

  As Emily began to reflect, she realised that there was a young girl, clearly in a lot of pain that was acting out. Emily made the brave decision to try and mend fences with Chloe.

  As Chris as Boris continued to pack, Emily made her way to Chloe’s room. She knocked on the door. “What?” Chloe snapped.

  “Can I give you a hand.” Emily asked meekly. Chloe yanked open the door and continued to pack. Emily took that as a yes.

  “Just let me know what you want me to do to help.” Emily said. Chloe sat on the edge of her bed.

  “Actually, there is something you can do for me.”

  “Yes anything.” Emily said a little too eager.

  “I left my favourite in the flat next door. My friend used to live there. He isn’t there now, he was out at the time the infected came, and he never came back.” Chloe said with a sadden tone.

  “Chris doesn’t want me to go anywhere without him, and even though I know he isn’t there, he won’t let me go into the flat. Would you get it for me?” Chloe asked.

  Emily thought about it for a moment, it seemed easy enough. All she had to do was go into the flat, retrieve her favourite and come back. It would go a long way to gain Chloe’s trust, how could she say no?

  “Of course, I will.” Emily agreed.

  “Great, I think I left it in the kitchen, it’s the s
ame layout as ours.” Chloe advised. This was the first time she had shown a pleasant tone since Emily had first met her.

  With that, Chloe and Emily sneaked out of Chloe’s bedroom and towards the front door. Chloe carefully lifted the latch so that neither her brother or Boris could hear.

  “I’ll wait here.” Chloe whispered, I’ll hold the door open for you.”

  “Okay” Emily smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

  Chloe passed Emily the spare key she had for her neighbour and she watched as Emily made her way in. As soon as Emily closed the door, Chloe pushed her door closed and went back to her bedroom.

  “So, Emily left.” Chloe said nonchalant as she sauntered into the main living room.

  “What do you mean, she left?” Boris barked. His patience with these idiotic people had started to wear thin.

  “I don’t know how else you want me to say it, Dude? She left. She walked out. She didn’t want to be here anymore. I don’t know do I?” She snapped back.

  “It seems a little out of character.” Chris observed. “Did she say where she was going?” He asked. Chloe shook her head.

  “I must go after her, it’s not safe.” Boris interjected. He began to gather his things and swiftly headed for the door.

  “We’ll go with you.” Chris piped up. Chloe snorted. “I’m not going anywhere.” She scoffed.

  “No skin off my nose.” Boris retorted as he stormed out the door.

  Chris scowled at Chloe. He stormed into the living room to collect his things, “You stay here and act like a spoiled brat if you like. I’m leaving.” He said forcefully.

  Chloe was a little taken aback by her brother’s outburst, she usually had him wrapped around her little finger. She huffed as she chased after her brother.

  ***

  Emily was alone in the neighbouring flat. She noticed a strange smell as she walked in, that of an unrefrigerated meat locker. The smell was more predominant the further into the flat she got. She had put it down to rotten food. She found kitchen however she had not found Chloe’s favourite. She went back into the living room to search. She did not notice the bedroom door in the hallway as it creeped opened.