Viro Book One

by Barnaby Taylor

  There was big duck pond. The moon was really light. The water was full of struggling viros. They wailed as they slipped and thrashed and struggled. The water wasn’t deep but it was muddy. The viros couldn’t get out. There was a horrible smell coming up from the pond.

  It was sad to see. The viros looked lost. They would never get out. They were trapped. Just like the red fish.

  It looked just like the end of some big bad battle from lots of years ago.

  Suddenly Amber stood still

  ‘Sssh!’ She hissed.

  We froze. Amber pointed at a flowerbed. It was covered with low bushes. Abe nodded to his sister. He started to crawl under the bushes. I felt very panicky. I put the wheelbarrow down. Ellis carefully climbed out. She hopped over to the flowerbed. She crawled after Abe. I followed. The mud was wet. Water soaked through the knees of my jeans. I lay next to Ellis.

  I tried not to breathe too loud. I didn’t want anyone to hear me. My tummy felt sick. I closed my mouth and tried to hold everything inside. Ellis could see I was scared. She held my hand. I felt a bit better. I opened my mouth to let the breath out.

  There was a wide lawn that glowed in the moonlight. It had trees round the edge. There was an empty bandstand in the distance. It had a fancy roof that made it look like a cartoon castle. I remembered the pantomimes that Mum used to take me to every Christmas. This thinking made my head heavy.

  I saw a thin line of light. It came from the trees. I saw two more. I held my breath again. Ellis gripped my hand. Three figures stepped out of the shadows. They stopped in the middle. They were soldiers. I could see the shape of their guns and gas masks. They were looking for something.

  It’s me, I thought. They’re looking for me.

  Crackle

  We’re saved. Mum must have sent them. She told them what I looked like. She gave them a photo. Had they been following me from the tunnel? I had to tell them where I was. They would make us safe. I went to move. I looked at Ellis and Amber. They both shook their heads.

  ‘No,’ mouthed Ellis. She knew what I wanted to do.

  I heard a crackle. One of the soldiers spoke.

  ‘Negative, Fox Four. No sign. Proceeding to next check point.’

  The soldier’s voice was big in the dark.

  You’re too loud, I said in my head. You’re talking too loud.

  I looked at Abe. He smiled but was nervous. We waited and watched. The soldiers stood still. One took off their gas mask. It was a lady. She looked tired and angry. She might not be the one to speak to. But then I saw all the darkness behind the soldiers move. I saw heads and arms and teeth.

  Viros.

  The swarm rushed the soldiers. The lady couldn’t get her mask back on. The soldiers all fired. The guns made the darkness flash. Everything slowed down. It was so loud. I covered my ears.

  The soldier got her mask back on but three viros fell on top of her. Her friends kept firing but there was just so many. The soldier on the floor pulled a knife from her boot. She stabbed a viro in the head. She kicked another with her boots. The other one bit her leg. She screamed.

  ‘Should we do something?’ I whispered.

  ‘Like what?’ said Amber. ‘Use the mop?’

  I felt silly and stopped speaking.

  One soldier was shooting while the other was trying to help the lady. She crawled away. Her friend shot the viros on her. She pulled a gun from her belt and fired as well.

  The soldiers killed all the viros. Dead things were everywhere. I saw twisted faces and broken bodies. They were all shapes and sizes. Men, women and kids piled on top of each other. It was so sad to see.

  My ears were ringing loud. I felt dizzy. My nose was full of gunpowder. My head was going to burst. It hurt so much. I couldn’t stop shaking. I wanted to puke.

  This was it, I thought. I couldn’t stand anymore. We needed to do something. We couldn’t be alone any more. I had to get help. We needed it. I crawled out from under the bush. Amber grabbed my ankle. I kicked her hand away. I stood up. I put my arms up. I started screaming.

  ‘Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot me!’

  The soldiers looked surprised. They pointed their guns at me.

  One of the soldiers came towards me. The others watched. The soldier pointed his gun at my head. He made me kneel down. He saw the others hiding and made them come out as well. Amber looked really angry. Abe helped Ellis. She smiled.

  Shoot

  The soldier spoke. The gas mask made his voice sound weird.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ he growled. ‘Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot the lot of you.’

  My jaw rattled. I was scared. I spoke really fast.

  ‘I’m not a zombie,’ I said. ‘I’m lost and I’m scared but I’m not a zombie.’

  ‘I can see that,’ the soldier said. ‘But you can’t be here. You must leave straightaway. There's another infestation moving into this sector.’

  ‘But I’ve lost my mum,’ I said.

  I started to cry. My tears were really fat and wet. I was blubbering.

  Amber stepped forward. She stood in front of the soldier. She sounded angry.

  ‘What he means is that we are trying to get to St. Dunstan’s so that we can find her brother’

  Amber pointed at Ellis.

  The soldier shook his head.

  ‘You’ll not get that far,’ he said. ‘The place is thick with them. You’ll never get through.’

  Ellis struggled to her feet.

  ‘But we’ve got to,’ she said. ‘My brother’s there and we’ve got to find him.’

  The soldier looked around. He was expecting trouble. We were making too much noise. The soldier was firm.

  ‘We can’t stay here any longer,’ he said. ‘Grab your stuff, we’re moving out.’

  The soldier turned back to his friends. They were pointing their guns at the darkness. I stood still. I didn’t look at anybody. I knew Amber was staring at me. I guessed she was angry. She thought I was a baby. I thought Abe felt the same too. He was her twin sister. I closed my eyes. I wanted to speak. I wanted to say we would be safe with the soldiers. They had guns and radios. They might have more soldiers nearby. We only had red paint and a mop. What use was that stuff?

  Ellis stood next to me. She touched my arm. She said, ‘Well Done’ to me with her mouth. She wasn’t angry. Ellis understood. I felt a little bit better. But I wanted to get going. The gardens were very scary.

  The bitten soldier couldn’t walk. She tried to stand. It was painful for her. She groaned. Her friends looked around. Ellis had an idea.

  ‘You can use the barrow,’ she said.

  One of the soldiers nodded. He wheeled the barrow to his friend. She cried out as she sat in it. One of the soldiers lifted the handles. The other came over to us. He was looking all around. It was making me nervous. I wondered why he was waiting.

  ‘There’s an electricity sub-station on the north-east corner of these gardens,’ he said. ‘We set up base there yesterday. We'll head there now.’

  He looked at the darkness.

  ‘Let’s get going,’ he said. ‘There’s loads of those bloody things now. They’re everywhere.’

  Lucky

  The sub-station was an ugly concrete hut. It had a high fence around it. There was a lamppost right outside. The light made everything look milky. I saw a path leading off into the darkness.

  One of the soldiers unlocked a gate. We waited while he unlocked the metal front door.

  ‘Hurry up,’ he growled. ‘Those things mustn’t see us.’

  We hurried through the door. The soldier locked it.

  ‘I’ll take first watch,’ he said. ‘Everyone get some rest. We’re moving out at first light.’

  It was a large concrete room. A table and metal chair sat in one corner. There was an electricity warning sign on the wall. The soldier saw me looking at the sign.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘This station was decommissioned years ago. There used to be a gene
rator outside but it was stolen for scrap.’

  The soldier helped the wounded lady lay down. He took off his gas mask. The soldier had an ordinary face. I thought his eyes looked kind. He looked at the lady’s leg. He spoke to Abe.

  ‘Pass me that med kit over there and the penlight beside it.’

  The soldier turned the torch on. He put it in his teeth. He put on a pair of plastic gloves. The lady grunted in pain.

  ‘There’s no point,’ she said. ‘I’m going to turn.’

  The lady groaned. Her teeth were tight together. Her face was red. She was really sweaty. She kept shivering. Her leg must be really bad. It was horrible to see. I couldn’t believe it had happened. She was a soldier. She had training. No one was safe.

  The kind soldier shook his head. He spoke quietly. He sounded very nice.

  ‘Not everyone does,’ he said. ‘You might be lucky.’

  The wounded soldier couldn’t smile. She shivered with pain. The soldier saw that we were all watching.

  ‘This is going to take a while. Why don’t you grab something to eat from that box by the table?’

  Ellis sat on the chair. Amber sat on the floor. Abe and I went over to the box. He opened the lid. I grabbed some cereal bars. Abe held up two ready meals.

  ‘Chili con carne or all-day breakfast?’ he said.

  ‘They come with a ration heater so you don’t need a fire,’ said the soldier. ‘My ‘favourite’ is the chicken curry but I’ve had it four times this week already.’

  He grimaced.

  ‘I think I might stick with chocolate for now.’

  I didn’t want to heat up the food in case the viros smelled it. I ate two cereal bars and half a bar of chocolate. It was really strong. Abe wasn’t worried. He heated up a breakfast for himself and a chili for his sister. Ellis had beef stew.

  I liked sitting with the others. It felt better than outside. My head stopped spinning. I could see clearer than earlier. The battle was leaving my mind. I started to feel peaceful. It felt like an adventure. Everyone was quiet now. Sometimes the radio crackled. I liked the sound. It was gentle. I saw the hurt lady. Her eyes were closed. She was asleep. I felt the same.

  Patrol

  I woke up. All my friends were asleep. The grumpy soldier was sitting quietly. He looked at me.

  ‘How are you doing?’ he asked.

  He sounded very kind. I was surprised. I thought he was mean.

  ‘I’m impressed that you’ve stayed alive,’ he said. ‘Those things are vicious.’

  I pointed at my sleeping friends.

  ‘It was them,’ I said. ‘Ellis rescued me. Abe and Amber rescued us.’

  I felt worried.

  ‘I haven’t helped much.’

  The soldier shook his head.

  ‘You were brave back there. That took real courage. I’ve shot so many of those things recently that I feel like a killing machine.’

  The soldier laughed.

  ‘The three of us got separated from the rest of our unit by a flash horde. Everyone else escaped on a convoy of trucks. We were forced to set up base here and then establish contact with any other units patrolling in the area. We were just out on our last patrol of the day when we bumped into you.’

  ‘Ellis and me saw the trucks earlier on. They saved us from the viros.’

  The soldier smiled.

  ‘Viros,’ he said. ‘Is that what you call those things?’

  I nodded.

  ‘What are they?’ I asked. ‘What has happened?’

  The soldier shrugged.

  ‘No one knows. I’ve heard all sorts of stories about terrorist attacks, dirty bombs, death cults, radioactive waste, global warming and genetic warfare. All I know is that all the armed forces are on high alert and we were posted in this region.’

  ‘Why here?’ I asked.

  ‘Dungeness,’ replied the soldier. ‘It’s the nuclear power station further down the coast. Two brigades have been moved to protect sensitive resource sites and the power station is now our main base.’

  The soldier sighed.

  ‘The country is out of control. With each passing hour more and more people are being infected. There’s no way back from this.’

  ‘What happens when someone is infected?’

  ‘It’s hard to say. People either turn straight away, take a while to turn or don’t turn at all. The virus is apparently some kind of pathogen that infects people and makes them crave warm blood. That’s how it spreads.’

  It sounded horrible. I shivered.

  Casevac

  The radio suddenly burst into life.

  ‘Fox Two, this is Fox Four. Standby.’

  The soldier lifted the handset to his mouth.

  ‘Fox Four. Come In.’

  The radio woke everyone up. Ellis rubbed her eyes.

  ‘Roger Fox Two. Be advised multiple targets in your sector. Over.’

  ‘Roger Fox Four. Request immediate casevac.’

  ‘Say Again Fox Two.’

  ‘Request immediate casevac. Plus four children.’

  ‘Negative Fox Two. Repeat. Negative. Sector compromised.’

  ‘Roger Fox Four. Fox Two Out.’

  The soldier wasn’t happy.

  ‘You need to go,’ he said. ‘More of those things are coming.’

  The other soldier came back from outside.

  ‘It’s getting mighty crowded out there. We need to move.’

  The second soldier shook his head.

  ‘We’re not going anywhere. Our orders are to sit tight. Laura can’t be moved and we can’t leave her here.’

  The first soldier nodded. He looked at us.

  ‘You lot need to get out of here.’

  ‘Can we help?’ I asked.

  Both soldiers shook their heads.

  ‘You’re brave kids,’ the first soldier said, ‘but this is no place for you right now. We’ll hold the station while you get away.’

  His friend nodded.

  ‘The targets are approaching from the south so as long as you keep this place between yourselves and them you will be safe. Make your way to the power station if you can. It’s thirty-odd miles from here but you’ll be safe there.’

  He went to go back outside.

  ‘Take what supplies you think you can carry and get going. I’ll cover your escape.’

  I picked up a box of rations and put it in the barrow. Ellis limped over to the door. Amber followed her. They went out. I went to leave. The nice soldier spoke to me.

  ‘I’ve got a son just like you,’ he said. ‘He’s a great kid as well.’

  My eyes started to cry.

  ‘Good luck,’ said the soldier. ‘I hope you find your mum.’

  Everyone else was waiting for me outside. It was getting light. The soldier opened the gate.

  Explosions

  ‘Hurry,’ the soldier growled. ‘They are just behind those trees.’

  I looked where the soldier was pointing. There was a horrible howling coming from over there. The soldier didn’t look worried.

  ‘Follow that path,’ he said. ‘Don’t stop until you hit the main road.’

  He looked back at the trees. The howling was getting louder.

  ‘Move it!’

  I grabbed the handles of the barrow. Amber went first. Abe was last. We headed up the path. Two viros were in front of us. The soldier shot them both. They fell on the ground.

  It was hard to run with the barrow. I tried my best. Ellis was watching for things to shoot with her catapult. Amber held her mop in both hands. We heard lots of shooting behind us. The viros must have got to the hut.

  ‘Come on,’ I shouted. ‘We’ve got to go.’

  I looked behind me. The hut was surrounded. The soldier was on the roof. He was firing everywhere. He was trapped.

  ‘There’s so many of them,’ I screamed.

  The soldier looked at us. He took something from his belt and threw it. There was a big explosion. I couldn’t see him anymore.

/>   I felt tired already. My arms really hurt. I shut my eyes to hide the pain. Ellis shouted something. I opened my eyes.

  Amber was waving her mop at a viro. It was tall with angry shoulders and looked very strong. It was wearing a suit like those people who worked in banks, only this one was all ripped up.

  Ellis fired her catapult. The stone bounced off its body.

  ‘Hang on,’ I shouted.

  I charged at the viro. The barrow went really fast. It hit the viro’s leg. There was a really loud crack. The viro wobbled. It fell down on the ground. It tried to stand up. It couldn’t do it. It looked unhappy.

  Abe ran up to me.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t get there in time.’

  ‘No problem,’ I said.

  We started running again. There were big explosions behind us. There was also loud gunfire but it suddenly stopped. All I could hear was the howling. I knew the soldiers weren’t alive any more. I felt very sad.

  Orders

  We kept running. It was horrible. I thought we would be attacked at any time. But we didn’t meet another viro. Then we started to walk. We went on a bridge that crossed a river. Abe spoke to me.

  ‘The gunfire must have attracted all the viros in the area.’

  He shuddered.

  ‘I hate to think what has happened to the soldiers.’

  I shrugged.

  ‘I think they are dead.’

  Abe nodded.

  ‘There’s no way they got away. You heard the sound of those things. The station would have been overrun in no time.’

  Neither of us said anything. I started to feel every guilty.

  ‘Is it our fault?’

  Ellis looked up at us.

  ‘They were brave and professional. They were doing what they had been trained to do,’ she said. ‘They were following orders. You heard them say that evacuation wasn’t possible. That was nothing to do with us.’

  ‘Those soldiers saved our lives,’ said Amber. ‘The best way to repay them is to find your brother and then your mum and get ourselves to safety.’

  We came towards a big roundabout. It was very open here. I felt like anyone could see us from anywhere.