Tar: An apocalyptic horror novella

by Iain Rob Wright

  Katie was silent for a moment but eventually knelt and gathered the rucksacks and supplies.

  “What are you doing?” Finn asked.

  “I’m getting ready to leave. You saved me by dealing with Edward, so I’ll help you.”

  Finn huffed. “You’re going to help me kill a man?”

  She stood up and shook her head. “No, I’m just going to help you do what you need to do to find him. I’ll leave the rest up to you.”

  “You both should stay here. It's safer.”

  “Maybe,” Katie agreed, “but I don’t want to wait here until the end comes. I’d rather be doing something. If I sit around here, I'll go insane. The dog needs to go the toilet anyway, so I'm going to have to go out sometime.”

  Finn ran a hand through his dusty hair and tried to remember the last time he washed it. Such things were so unimportant now. “It’s dangerous out there.”

  “I know. I want to come anyway.”

  “Me too,” said Minty, sliding gingerly off the bed.

  Finn grabbed a rucksack up off the floor and slung it over his shoulder. “Fine, but understand that I’m not responsible for you. It’s not my job. Come along if you want, but it’s every man for himself.”

  Nobody argued.

  So they got going.

  Finn and Katie wore the rucksacks while Finn also carried Edward’s gun. He had considered arming the three of them, but decided that a woman and child weren’t the best people to operate deadly weapons. It wasn’t sexism, merely that Finn possessed experience with handguns, and they did not. He still remembered the old Browning 9mm that belonged to his dad. Finn fired it to kill the man who used to be his family’s milkman when it turned out he was an informant for the British. It wasn’t an easy kill—the man had once gifted Finn’s ma a carton of eggs and jugs of milk when times were tough. As far as traitors went, the milkman was a decent enough fellow.

  Out on the road, the silence smothered them. The dust and dirt on the ground prevented even their footsteps from making a noise which made the lack of sound deafening. That was why it was such a sudden shock when a scream broke out. Finn raised his weapon when two women broke out of the bushes and into their path. A miracle he stopped himself pulling the trigger on instinct.

  Wonder Mutt barked madly, his confidence today was twice what it was yesterday.

  The woman who came out first was bleeding profusely, her dirty clothes glistening crimson. The woman behind her held a long chef’s knife and had a look of madness upon her face. She didn’t seem to notice Finn stood there with a gun pointed.

  “Please,” the injured woman begged when she saw Finn. “Help me.”

  The mad woman turned and saw them too and had enough control of herself to stop what she was doing. Her expression softened, and she didn’t seem quite so mad anymore. “Oh, hello,” she said, oddly calm.

  “What are you doing?” Finn asked her, lowering his weapon only slightly.

  “Trying to kill my whore of a sister. Can I help you with something?”

  Katie stepped up beside Finn. “Why are you trying to kill your sister?”

  “Because she fucked my husband. A lot, from what I gather.”

  The offending sister doubled over now, panting. She held a bloody, trembling arm out in front of her as protection. “She’s… she’s crazy.”

  Finn lowered his gun more, but was still ready to use in a split-second. “How do you know she slept with your man?”

  The mad woman laughed. “Because the stupid bitch told me! Said she wanted to unburden herself before the end came. It might have unburdened her, but it didn’t do me any good, did it? Huh?” She waved the knife at her cowering sister. “Whore!”

  “I’m sorry, Tracey. I’m so sorry. Please…”

  “So, I’m sure you understand,” the mad woman continued, “but I need to take care of this.”

  Finn nodded. Vengeance wasn't something he had a problem with. “Yeah, I get it. Makes perfect sense.”

  The woman nodded her thanks and lunged towards her sister with the knife.

  Katie cried out beside him. “Stop her, Finn!”

  Finn raised his gun and fired.

  Tracey tumbled sideways to the ground and ended up on her face with the knife still in her hand. The back of her skull was missing where the bullet exited.

  Katie and Minty stood next to Finn, their mouths wide open. Finn lowered the smoking pistol to his side.

  Tracey's sister screamed. “W-why did you do that? Why did you kill…? Why did you kill my sister?”

  Finn raised the gun and fired again. Tracey’s sister hit the ground beside her, their blood ran into a single, growing pool. Both Minty and Katie staggered backwards.

  Katie shook her head at him. “W-What? Why?”

  “It was a kindness,” he explained. “Look!”

  He gave them a few moments to see what he had seen. Minty and Katie crept towards the woman’s body and peered down at it. It didn’t take them long to see the bulge of her dissected bowel hanging out of the space where her belly button used to be. Wonder Mutt sniffed at the viscera, seeming to decide whether it was worth eating.

  “She was dead anyway,” said Katie as it dawned on her.

  “Yeah,” said Finn. “I’d say she had about an hour or two of the worst agony imaginable, and then that would be it. I did the best thing I could for her. Her sister gutted her like a pig.”

  “Then why not let her sister finish her off?” asked Minty.

  Finn thought about it but could only shrug. “Just didn’t seem right.”

  “I can’t believe she was sleeping with her sister’s husband.”

  Finn looked at Katie and raised an eyebrow. “If that shocks you, then I have no idea how you made it this long.”

  “Because I had a husband too.”

  Finn didn’t ask her to elaborate. It was easy enough to assume Katie's husband had taken care of her for as long as he'd been able—until someone took his life or illness did. Cholera and dysentery returned to the 1st World with vigour, and pestilence took as many lives as violence. When Finn fled Northern Ireland to escape the wrath of Chris Adams, he made for the docks. There he found sweaty, vomiting families crushed together on ships, intending to head for the Welsh coast to eke out a few more weeks of life. Many would be dead before they made the trip. It was seeing those sick and jaundiced children that led Finn to murder the owner of a yacht and eject his snotty wife from its decks. He held no remorse at the time and would probably have done it over again if asked. It was survival of the fittest.

  What a time to be alive.

  They walked onwards, leaving the dead sisters in their wake. Least their differences were now forgotten. When the tar claimed their bodies, they would be at each other's side for eternity. Maybe that would be Hell for them.

  Less than five minutes later, just as they passed a ransacked petrol station, Minty pointed ahead.

  Finn nodded. He saw it.

  Latif’s.

  The warehouse was gone, and all that stood where it once did was a single slither of a brick wall and a bright blue sign reading: LATIF’S WHOLESALE.

  Wherever Dominic was, it wasn’t here.

  10

  SWEAT

  Finn strode amongst the rubble. The reeking timbers still gave off tendrils of acrid smoke. The fire had not been so long ago. A day at most—according to Edward. What the hell had happened here?

  Finn stumbled across the first body. A gunshot wound had burrowed into the young man’s chest. “Is this Dominic?”

  Minty hurried over, half-tripping on a pile of charred bricks. He looked down at the body and shook his head. “No. That’s Smithy.”

  “Who?”

  “He’s one of Dominic’s friends.”

  Finn frowned. “Would Dominic have a reason to shoot him?”

  Minty shrugged. “Not especially.”

  Finn ran his hands through a pile of soot and let it flow through his fingers. “What the hell happened h
ere?”

  Wonder Mutt circled and took a dump besides a fallen metal staircase.

  Katie called out. “There’s another body over here.”

  Finn clambered over the rubble to where she was standing. Sure enough, another corpse lay amongst the debris. This body had burned in the fire, unrecognisable. “Is this him, Minty?”

  Minty made it over and again shook his head. “No. I can’t tell who it is, but Dominic has a shaved head. This guy has hair—you can see it all matted against his skull.”

  Finn nodded. There was indeed a matted crop of black hair fused into the sticky, burned flesh atop the skull. The face was a smooth sheet of seared skin—impossible to tell if the man had been dead before the fire.

  “Maybe there was a fight,” said Katie. “Dominic was, what, like a gangster or something?”

  “Kind of,” said Minty.

  Finn remained silent and continued sifting through the wreckage like a sniffer dog. By the time an hour had passed, he'd found another six bodies. All of them had burned. Minty couldn’t verify one way or another if any of them were Dominic.

  “Damn it!” Finn kicked the cracked glass of a ruined vending machine, shattering it completely.

  “If he burned to death,” said Katie, “then he got what he deserved. You can stop now.”

  “No. I can’t stop without knowing for sure. He might not be here.”

  A noise made them turn, made Wonder Mutt bark. He was turning into quite the guard dog.

  A length of fragile wood toppled against the wall, tipped over, and broke in half. A scruffy man with tangled dreadlocks stood looking at them. He had his hands above his head. “Oops!”

  Finn realised he was pointing the gun at the man, so he lowered it. “Who are you?”

  “Just chill, man. I'm Ledley.”

  “What are you doing here, Ledley?”

  Ledley lowered his arms and let them relax by his side. He kept his distance but dared to take a few steps closer. He stood atop a pallet stacked with melted tins. “You’s looking for the men what did this, yeah?”

  “Yes!” said Finn. “Did someone survive? Do you know where they went?”

  The man nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

  “Then start talking,” said Finn.

  Ledley smiled. “Yeah, man, I will, but…”

  “But what?”

  “Those backpacks look pretty full, and you're even able to take care of a dog—cute by the way. I haven’t eaten in days. A guy on his own can’t get no food. Seems like it all belongs to the mean people of the world now.”

  Finn understood what the man was saying. Any remaining food supplies were seized by whoever had the strength and numbers to take it. Someone with a gun, for instance, wielded a lot of power. “I could just shoot you, Ledley. Sorry, but that's the way it is.”

  “Yeah, you could, man. Suppose I’m desperate enough to take the risk. Give me a little something to eat and I’ll tell you all I know. Fair deal?”

  Finn sighed. “Minty, give him a few tins.”

  Ledley’s mouth seemed to water, and he fidgeted anxiously while Minty rooted around in Katie's rucksack. When he handed over the tins and a packet of crisps, Ledley snatched them from him. He looked embarrassed. “Sorry. It’s been a few days, so I've forgotten my manners. Thank you, though. You must be the last kind folks around.”

  “You're not kidding,” said Katie

  Ledley looked at her. “You had a tough time of it too, miss?”

  “Katie, and yes, I certainly have. I met up with Minty and Finn yesterday, and things have finally started looking up. If you can say that with the world about to swallow itself up."

  “Well, I'm glad you get to spend the last days with some good people.”

  “The only people I’m interested in are the ones who were here two days ago,” said Finn irritably. “Can we focus on that, please?”

  Ledley clutched his food like it was a part of him now. He moved over to a pile of rubble and sat on a disembodied shelf that had miraculously survived the inferno. “Of course. I wasn’t lying, I saw them. This was my home for the last month or so. I used to stay at the shelter down the road, but when the big panic started, it kind of fell to pieces. It was a brothel by the time I left—men and women both selling their bodies for whatever they were worth. I know we’re all screwed, but I didn’t want my last weeks to be amongst that, so I wandered about for a while until I found this warehouse. Don’t know what happened to the owners, but they seemed to have taken off. Left me with a warehouse full of munchies and more booze than a man could drink in a lifetime. Considering I’ve been homeless for about six years, it was a fine way to spend the end of the world. Then a bunch of rude boys turn up and claim the place as their own. I was kipping in the offices upstairs at the time, so I made myself scarce and hid beneath a desk.”

  “They were here for the booze,” said Finn. “The city is pretty much dry, so alcohol during the last days on earth is about the most valuable thing left.”

  Ledley nodded. “True dat. Before the rude boys turned up, I was on the bender to end all benders. It’s why I didn’t make better use of all the food. By the time I sobered up, I hadn’t eaten in days. You don't appreciate what you have till it's gone.”

  “So what happened here?” asked Minty. “What happened to Dominic?”

  “He the big guy with a bald head and wide shoulders?”

  Finn looked at Minty.

  Minty nodded. “That's him.”

  Ledley sucked at his teeth. “Think it was him what started shooting a gun like it was the Wild West. I snuck out of the office after the shooting started—don’t ask me why—and I looked down from the balcony. Looked like a rival gang or summin’ bowled up, and a turf war broke out. Dunno how it happened exactly, but eventually the place went up in flames. There was an explosion first. I reckon one of the idiots shot the barbeque-gas canisters this place had stacked at the back.”

  “You had fuel?” Katie said. “You really did have it all before they came and wrecked it.”

  “Yeah. This here was the grandest treasure in the land, ya know. That's why the bad men wanted it. Some t’ings never change. Least the big fella got a bullet for his efforts.”

  Finn sighed. So Dominic was dead.

  “He still be alive though. I saw two of his boys drag his busted ass out of here.”

  Finn stared at the man. “Dominic is alive?”

  Ledley nodded. “He took off in that direction. Not much down there except factories, but that’s a’where he went.”

  Finn looked off into the distance. The road led into a built-up area with vast factories on either side. Dominic could be anywhere. It was something though. There was still a chance of finding the man.

  “You said he had a couple fellas with him?”

  Ledley nodded. “Two. Both of ‘em bigger than you. Hope that dog of yours has a mean bite.”

  Finn smiled. “Don’t worry about me.” He reached into his backpack and pulled something out. He tossed the bottle of vodka to Ledley. It had been sitting in the evidence room, probably confiscated from a bunch of teenagers back in the normal days. Finn had taken it for the road, but time was short, and he needed to keep his head together. “Enjoy!”

  Ledley caught the bottle and turned it over in his hands as if a miracle had created it. “You said alcohol is the most valuable thing in the world, and you’re just giving me a full bottle of vodka?”

  Finn shrugged. “You don’t want it?”

  “You’d have to kill me to get it back.”

  “Then make it last.”

  “I’d ask to come with you folks, but I’m guessing I’d have a better time of it if I went the other way.”

  “You’d be right,” said Finn. “It was nice meeting you, Ledley. Thanks for the help.”

  “And thanks for the liquid gold. You come back this way, I’ll be around.”

  Finn nodded and turned to the road. Minty and Katie were soon by his side.

  “Anoth
er heroic deed for the day,” said Minty.

  “I gave a tramp a bottle of vodka. I wouldn’t call that God's work.”

  “You sacrificed something of value,” said Katie, “to make someone else happy. Seems pretty heroic to me.”

  Finn glared at them both. “Are you two conspiring to annoy me?”

  They both laughed. Finn had to turn away to avoid them seeing a smile crack on his own face.

  11

  TEARS

  “Does anyone have a decent guess where Dominic would have gone?” Finn asked as they strolled up the road. He was getting reckless—he should have been keeping to the alleyways and overhangs, but instead he rushed. Who knew how long he had left to accomplish his mission?

  The sky remained black above their heads and it was hard to see more than a hundred metres ahead.

  “I think I have an idea,” said Katie. She pointed down at a patch of oil on the road. Wonder Mutt sniffed at it with interest.

  Finn hurried over but ended up shrugging his shoulders. “An oil slick, so what? I see those everywhere.”

  “It’s not oil.”

  Finn frowned and squinted at the stain. “No... It’s blood!”

  Katie nodded. “Ledley said Dominic got shot, right?”

  “He certainly did.” Finn looked along the road until he found another stain and knelt beside it. “It’s a trail. He was bleeding. It’s dry, but he must have stopped to rest somewhere. The fire was yesterday, so he can't have got far.”

  “If he isn’t dead already,” said Minty glumly.

  “Only one way to find out. Keep your eyes peeled for more blood.”

  And so they strolled along in the near-darkness looking for stains on the road. Sure enough, they found that the trail continued. Wonder Mutt even made himself useful by tracking down a few himself. It led down the road for a couple hundred metres before leading up onto a patch of grass and down onto a loading bay for an aluminum sheeting company with a high roof and steel panels over the top windows. The blood trail led right across the pebble car park and up to the shattered front entrance. It was the last factory on the row because the road gave way to a wooded area that likely acted as a green buffer between houses and industry. It made Finn think about Marie and their childhood trips to the forest.