The front-running diseased jumped at William as he lifted his feet again. The creature stumbled and fell flat when it missed him. He took a moment to catch his breath as the crowd gathered below. They knew they couldn’t reach him, but they’d be ready when he fell.
Both Matilda and Olga offered William words of encouragement.
“You’re nearly there.”
“You’re doing so well.”
“Another foot higher and we can drag you up.”
Covered in sweat, William’s right foot slipped an inch, squeaking against the glass. The girls gasped. The diseased roared.
Shaking with fatigue, William braced himself with his hands and readjusted his feet. They held, but for how long? One final test of his feet’s grip, he blocked out the sound of the beasts below and focused on the girls’ dangling hands. If they didn’t catch him, he’d be screwed. If he didn’t jump, he’d fall.
Pushing as hard as he could against the window and fence, William used what strength he had left in his legs, leaped, and reached up.
Chapter 48
The girls worked with the synchronicity necessary to save William’s life, both of them grabbing one of his wrists at the same time and dragging him onto the roof.
The screams below him roared in frustration as William rolled onto his back and stared up at the bright sky. He used his entire being to breathe, his ribs swelling and relaxing with his heavy gasps.
When Matilda leaned over him and kissed his forehead, he managed a smile, a few seconds later forcing out, “Thank you. Thank you both.”
“I should think so too,” Olga said while rubbing her forehead with one hand and holding one of his boots in the other, “especially after you damn near knocked me unconscious.”
Laughing on his exhale, William shook his head. “Sorry.”
“What are we laughing at?”
“Hugh?” William sat up too quickly, his world spinning, stars flashing through his vision.
Hugh walked towards them across the roof, his shirt soaked with blood.
“How? What? How?”
“I ran across after you. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but the diseased seemed somewhat preoccupied, so I took my chance.”
William fell flat against the roof again, laughing as he said, “You’re a mad bastard, Hugh.”
Hugh snorted a laugh. “I love you too.”
They waited for William to get himself together, and although his body still trembled, his muscles aching from the run, he found it in him to walk over to the skylight they’d left open on their previous visit.
Because Olga hadn’t seen the building before, she hung inside to look.
William glanced at where Goliath had waited for them, his breath catching in his throat.
When Olga reemerged, she pointed towards the far end of the lab. “There’s clearly someone in the cell down there.”
“How can you possibly know that?” Matilda said.
“The diseased are down there.”
“That doesn’t tell us anything,” William said. “If we can’t see him, they certainly can’t.”
“Maybe he’s been banging for someone to let him out? He’s probably worn his fists to stumps by now.”
William, Matilda, and Hugh fell silent. Like they didn’t feel bad enough for leaving him. Olga then tutted and walked off down the roof.
They stopped about ten feet short of the end of the building before Olga reached down and tore a tile free. She threw the slate from the roof like a Frisbee. Several diseased’s shrieks suggested she’d scored a direct hit. Two more tiles, she sent them the way of the first. As she removed the next one, the others helped until they’d exposed a patch about three feet square.
Olga sat down at the edge of the hole and slammed her heel against the wooden ceiling. On the second blow, a creaking rip ran through the boards.
Several kicks later and Olga’s foot went through the roof. The creatures inside roared at the intrusion.
All four of them tore the gap wider to reveal the corridor below.
“That’s the cell,” Hugh said, pointing at the large metal door.
Olga raised an eyebrow at him. “No shit.”
“All right, I was just trying to be helpful.”
“Being helpful would have been saving him the first time around.”
“So how are we going to get down there?” William said. Many of the diseased in the corridor wore lab coats. “There’s too many of them.”
“Where’s the key?” Olga said.
Hugh pointed. “In a box locked with a combination.”
“And you know the combination?”
“Zero, eight, five, two. They never change it. The only problem is, that’s the box.”
A scowl dominated Olga’s face as she tried to look where Hugh indicated. It took a few seconds. “That box near the floor?”
“Yep.”
“So how are we going to get to it?”
“That’s what I mean.”
“I thought you were the smart one.”
Hugh shrugged and he lost focus. “I don’t know what I am anymore.”
“You’re Hugh, no one else.” Not the devil.
The others looked at William.
The diseased both inside and outside calling up to them, Olga finally said, “How about Matilda and I go inside? We could stand by the double doors you tied and try to bring the diseased towards us. Someone can then slip in to get the key.”
“Why don’t you jump down and get the key?” William said. “It’s suicide to go down there.”
Before Olga could reply, Hugh said, “I’ll do it.”
Both William and Matilda turned on him. “What?”
“I’ll do it. I can get down there and open the door in time.”
“What about going down there and blocking the door from this side so the diseased can’t come back in? We could trap them between two locked doors.”
Hugh shook his head. “There’s nothing to block the door with, and I won’t be able to tie it because it’s a single door. But if I wait for them all to leave, it should close behind them. Even with the small window in it, I’ll be too hard for them to see.”
Olga patted Hugh’s back before tugging on Matilda’s arm. “Let’s do this, then.”
But Matilda shook her off and stepped close to Hugh. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
The dark glaze had returned. Although the malice had gone. Maybe the devil had left. It had already broken Hugh, what more did it need to do?
After hugging him, Matilda followed Olga across the roof towards the skylight. She glanced back several times, her brow furrowed.
“This is madness,” William said. “We’ll find another way.”
Despite the distant glaze, Hugh’s eyes shimmered behind his tears. “I’m done, William. I’ve had enough.” His brown eyes were first magnified and then rippled before he cried freely. “My head’s gone. I’m a liability. How long will it be before I get you and everyone else killed? You’ve as good as said it yourself.”
“But you’re getting better.”
“Just because you want that to be the case, it doesn’t mean it is.” While knocking his skull with a closed fist, Hugh cried even harder. “Every moment is a battle for me. I’m putting you all in danger. I’ve killed an entire city; I can’t have the death of my best friends on my hands too. Max is an asset to your survival. I’m a hindrance.”
“You didn’t kill everyone in the city, the disease did.”
“I let it in.”
“It was an easy mistake to make. We could have done it when we were leaving for the night.” Although Hugh looked like he wanted to reply, William cut him off. “We’ll get through this together. We’re your friends. We’re here for you. We need you. Look at how far you’ve come. Remember that awkward boy who was petrified to be on national service and talked too fast for anyone to understand?”
Smiling through his tears, Hugh wiped his nose and nodded.
>
“And now look at you, you’re a machine. You fight like you were born for it. Like a protector. You fight better than any of us. We’d be lost without you.”
“Maybe you need to take another look at Matilda. She’s a warrior. And Olga taught me everything I know.”
“I won’t let you go down there if you’re not coming back out again. We’ll find another way. We’ll leave Max. If Olga wants him so badly, let her go.”
When Hugh didn’t reply, William said, “If you’re going down there, I need you to promise me you’ll come back out again.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. Promise me.”
Once he’d removed the map they found outside the city from his pocket, Hugh handed it to William. “I promise, but take this just in case.”
The map in his hand, William watched Hugh remove his sword and lay it flat on the roof. “You might need that.”
“If I get to the point where I need it, I’d say it’s game over already.”
The start of tears burned William’s eyes. “Promise me you’re coming back.”
“I promise.” The glaze had gone, the compassionate boy he’d met in the dining hall returning. “I lost myself for a moment, but I’ll make sure I get back out. And I’ll bring Max with me. I promise.”
“Okay.” Trying his best to remain hidden from the diseased in the corridor, William walked towards the hole and peered in. “Now we have to wait for the girls to call them away.”
Chapter 49
Still keeping his distance, William peered through the hole at the diseased in the corridor. A waft of smoke from woodwork then blew across his face, the start of a cough tickling his throat. He backed away, the creatures on the outside of the labs screeching when they saw him, his coughing drowned out by their raucous reaction.
The black smoke from woodwork continued to rise straight up, the wayward cloud an apparent anomaly. When William returned to the hole and stood beside Hugh, the diseased were shuffling away from Max’s cell and heading towards the banging noise against the double doors deeper in the building.
As William removed his shirt, Hugh looked him up and down. “What are you doing?”
First William tied a knot at the cuff of one arm before wrapping the other end around and securing it to his wrist. He tested the strength with a tug. “I’m going to hang this down through the hole for you to grab on to. As soon as you’ve opened the door with the key, I’ll be ready to pull you out.”
Hugh wrapped William in a tight hug. “You’ve done all you can, Spike.”
Checking for the dark glaze, William said, “William.”
Although Hugh smiled, his eyes didn’t. “Not really the time for jokes, is it? You’ve been the best friend anyone could hope for, William.”
“You’re coming back out of there, even if I have to follow you down and drag you back out myself.”
“I will; I just want you to know you’ve gone above and beyond. No one has been as kind to me as you. You’ve been the best friend I could ask for. It’s important for me to say thank you.”
Goliath, his parents, the entire damn city, William’s voice trembled when he said, “Shut up, Hugh. You’re wasting time. Get down there and come back up as soon as you’ve unlocked that door. You hear me?”
If Hugh heard him, it didn’t show. The boy moved to the edge of the hole and hung his legs down. He then turned around and lowered himself in, holding onto the tiles for a second, fixing William with his teary glaze before he let go, the tap of his feet hitting the floor inside.
The wind crashed into William, bringing with it another dark cloud of smoke. This time he held his breath, shifting from one foot to the other, spending his impatience while he waited for it to clear.
When he looked into the corridor again, William saw Hugh crouched next to the locked box. While entering the code, Hugh threw glances in the direction of the mob. The girls matched the creatures’ fury with their own hammering blows. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep them preoccupied.
The box fell open and Hugh pulled the key out. He remained crouched while he reached up and unlocked the cell door with a gentle click.
William, shirtless, lay on his front against the tiled roof. His right hand throbbed from how tightly he’d tied the knot at his wrist.
“Hugh?” Max’s voice. Croaky and weak, he repeated himself. “Hugh! How did you get in here?”
From his current vantage point, William could only see Hugh, who smiled. “Hi, Max.” A pause as he appeared to look at someone else in the cell. “We’ve come to get you out.”
“We?”
“Me, William, Matilda, and Olga.”
“Olga’s here? What’s happened?”
“Edin’s lost. The entire city has fallen. Only a handful of us have survived.”
A conversation they could be having on the roof, William hung his shirt down into the corridor and swung the knot towards Hugh to get his attention.
“My god,” Max said. “The whole city?”
“Nearly all of it. The political district managed to lock themselves down. Although, I don’t know what the damage is there; no one can get in.”
His jaw clenched against his need to shout, William poked his head into the corridor to check for diseased. The single door at the end of the windowless stretch had closed like Hugh had hoped. Its slim rectangular window showed him the mob and the girls banging against the double doors to keep their attention. They were still winning, but it only took one to notice Hugh.
Again, William waved the knot in Hugh’s direction. With Max still in his cell, only Hugh could see him. Was he ignoring him? “Hugh!”
Max stepped through the door, fixed on William and waved. “Spike, how are you?”
And why should Max know to keep his voice down? Before William could tell him, the diseased in the other corridor yelled.
The swell of a stampede. “Hugh! Get the hell out of there now!”
As the diseased descended on Hugh, the stocky boy stared at them before he looked up. His lips bent out of shape as he cried, “I’m done, William. I’ve been done for some time. I’m sorry I just lied to you, but I’m not coming back up. There’s no coming back from where I’ve been.”
“No! Hugh!”
The single door at the end of the corridor smashed against the wall, and chaos shoved it open.
Hugh raised his voice over the insanity. “If I don’t go now, I’ll lose it out there again. I can’t cope with anyone else dying because of me.”
Tears running freely, William’s voice shattered when he yelled, “Max, do something!”
As Max ran in front of Hugh, the woman they’d found outside the walls when they were on national service stepped from the cell. Where Max held his ground to shield Hugh, the woman walked headlong into the diseased.
The corridor was narrow enough for Max to slow them down, but for how long?
A thud in the room between the dark corridor and the girls. Before William could work out what caused it, one of the glass walls shattered. The woman must have decided she wanted out. More creatures rushed forward.
“Hugh! Get out of there now!”
Max fell to the flood of diseased. Hugh vanished a second later.
Although William scanned the chaos for his friend, he’d gone. The next time he saw him, he’d have the bleeding eyes of a diseased. Nobody needed to see that. Rolling onto his back, he clapped his hands to his face and let go of a throat-tearing scream.
Chapter 50
Other than to sit up, William hadn’t moved, Matilda beside him with her arm around his shoulders. “We’ve lost so many people already,” he said. “Why did he have to do that? I could have gotten him out.”
Olga hovered nearby, but remained at a safe distance and stared out over Edin.
Despite William’s blurred view of the world, when Max appeared through the skylight, he had to do a double take. He rubbed his eyes. The Max who’d been holding back the diseased just m
inutes before looked stronger. The boy had always been slim, but now he looked positively skeletal. He walked as if it caused him pain. His shoulders were higher than usual, his skin so pale it had turned almost translucent.
But Max didn’t return William’s attention. Instead, he used their elevated position to take in the drastically changed city. The already shattered boy slumped as he turned several slow circles. The woodwork district still burned, black smoke rising from the scores of wooden buildings, scenting the air around them. There were diseased everywhere. “What the hell’s happened?”
As the most composed of the group, Olga explained everything, Max’s already pale face turning paler with every gruesome detail.
It took a few seconds after Olga finished for Max to close his jaw. He shook his head as if it would somehow shift the reality of what had happened into some kind of order he could process. “What caused it all?”
While Olga said, “We don’t know,” William and Matilda shared the briefest of glances. Maybe that secret should die with Hugh.
“Look,” Olga said, turning her back on the others while she spoke to Max, “the quickest route out of here’s through national service.”
Tension balled in William’s abdomen before the words exploded from him. “You snake!”
Still armed with a machete, Olga tilted her head to one side, lifting the weapon slightly away from her body. “What did you call me?”
“You heard me.”
Olga returned to her conversation with Max. “You need to know the truth of what’s gone on so you can make the right decision for you.”
Before William could even think about standing up to continue the argument, Matilda pressed down on his left shoulder. And maybe she was right. Max deserved to know.
“William, Hugh, and Matilda came past the labs yesterday and chose to leave you. When they met up with me, they kept it a secret until they decided they needed your help. They’re only here because of what you can do for them.”
Collapse: Book four of Beyond These Walls - A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller Page 18
