by Monroe, Kady
Jack was hovering behind her, waiting to help the man up.
She knelt down in front of him and tried again. His white hair fluttered in the breeze.
“Hello. We’re here to help you.”
This time, he reacted, raising his head slowly and squinting, he looked at her. Jenny nearly fell backwards with fright. In the light from the street lamp, she could see his bloodshot eyes were once brown, but there was little trace left of the colour. There was no doubt he was infected. But as of yet, she could see no hint of the rage the others displayed. He seemed more bewildered than anything else and made no effort to move.
Jack had also seen the old man's eyes. He pulled her a few steps backwards, never taking his eyes off the sick man, and exclaimed,
“That's what the ones who chased us looked like! He's bitten and infected,”
He looked around warily, then nervously said,
“Then the rest of them...” he trailed off, surveying the other casualties.
“Yes,” she said, knowing exactly what he meant.
“We better get back, before the wounded ones go crazy.”
They began to make their way back to the shop. Jack vigilantly continued to keep the old man in his line of sight. Jenny tasked herself with watching out for any others. Then she noticed someone familiar lying outside a door, a little way up the road.
“Oh no...”
She rushed towards the prone body.
Jack was hot on her heels as she reached the old lady.
“Ruth!” she gasped.
The poor woman had a ragged neck-wound which had bled profusely. She was lying on her back, arms splayed, right outside her own open front door. Her blood ran from the pavement, over the curb and into the gutter. Jenny felt tears welling up as she gazed at Ruth's pale face and death glazed eyes.
“Uh, Jenny, we gotta go,” said Jack, grabbing her arm.
“The old man’s getting up and so are two others down there.” He was pointing in the direction of the T-junction, but Jenny hardly noticed.
Jack started pulling her to the safety of the shop. She stumbled once but regained her balance. Then she heard a scream of fury coming from down the road and her survival instincts kicked in. She didn’t need encouragement after that.
As soon as they passed over the doorstep, Matt lowered the shutter. Once he was back inside, Jenny locked the door.
“The ones that got bitten are infected!” Jack declared to the others.
Jenny was busy looking out the shutter gap. The old man was on his feet and heading in their direction. Her stomach flipped.
“He’s coming over here. Let’s get out of sight,” she said, pointing towards the counter.
The other three didn’t need persuading. They all ensconced themselves behind the counter on the cold floor and watched the view of the shop front on the security monitor.
CHAPTER 3
The group waited. And sure enough, the old man came into view. The camera above him looked down on his white head. There was an almighty rattle as he pounded a fist against the window shutter. Jenny hadn’t expected him to be strong enough to hit out with such force. He punched once more and tried to peer inside the shop, his head turning this way and that. The man soon gave up his observation effort. Instead, his mouth came to meet the metal and he attempted to bite the screen. When he got nowhere doing that, he let out a howl of anger and beat at the shutter ferociously. The noise sent shivers down Jenny’s spine.
The disturbance he was creating attracted another of the infected. This male was younger, well built and towered at least a foot above the old man. He slammed his fists against the blind, just like his elderly associate was doing. Then he stopped and peered up, almost as if he knew he was being watched. He had one silver eye, the other was a gaping hole above a missing portion of his cheek and jaw. Sophie gasped when she saw his face and wept quietly. Jack put his arm around her and pulled her into him. The one-eyed man went back to attacking the shutter. Jenny was afraid the men would discover how to lift it. She didn’t think the glass of the window or door would stand up to that kind of punishment. She needn't have worried though. In less than a minute, almost in unison, the two men gave up their attack. The old man hurried away, but the taller man went in the opposite direction at a sprint.
Jenny wasn’t the only one who let out a breath of relief. For a couple of minutes, everyone was silent, then Sophie asked,
“What will the police do about them when they get here?”
They all looked at each other. Jenny thought she should say something positive to bolster the girl, so she replied,
“They’ll probably use tasers, zap the infected until they go down. Then they can take them to the hospital or something.”
“We’re going to be stuck in here for ages, aren’t we?” the girl responded.
When no one answered the question, she took out her phone and tried to place a call.
“Did you get through to anyone earlier?” Matt asked Jack.
The boy shook his head.
“I think I'll try phoning my Dad,” he said, getting up slowly to peer over the counter before going to the wall phone.
Jenny's heart leapt with hope when Sophie talked into her phone. Then it fell when it became obvious that the girl was leaving a voice message.
“Hello Mum, it’s me. I don’t know if you heard yet, but sick people started attacking other people at the bonfire. Me and Jack had to run, but I’m Ok and I’m not hurt or anything, but I’m scared. I’m in a shop on Marlow Street with some other people. Please phone me back as soon as you get this, Mum. Bye.”
She sniffed and ended the call, then tried to phone someone else. With the mobiles connecting again, Jack also took out his mobile and tried ringing someone. Jenny was the odd one out, and it made her feel alone.
She got up and left them to it, making her way towards the door again. When she peered out this time, the street was empty except for the woman's body Jack and her had checked earlier. The dog had must have stopped barking as she couldn’t hear it anymore.
Jenny listened to Sophie leaving another message for someone, but the boys hadn’t yet uttered a word. She felt sorry for her companions. They must be worried sick about loved ones.
She decided to call Mr Carter, her boss. He was the only person who might worry about her and his shop. Maybe he already tried to ring me, but couldn’t get through when the network was busy. The thought cheered her up a little.
She went to join the others and getting her own mobile out, she checked her voicemail. No messages. A little disappointed, she then tried to reach Mr Carter, but it went to voicemail. She left him a message. Next, she dialled 999. Jenny became alarmed when the nobody answered the emergency services phone number. It didn’t even go to the automated system. Matt had said his brother got no response when he had rung his local emergency number. Fear was making her feel sick, but she continued to listen, hoping someone would eventually pick up. She wasn't sure how long she would have kept the line open, but her signal dropped and she was cut off. Her phone never got a good signal around this area.
The men had also given up with their calls. She hadn’t heard either of them speak. Sophie, on the other hand, seemed to have left quite a few messages for people, but now she gave up in frustration too, bursting out,
“Why isn’t anyone answering!”
Jack said, “Why don't you wait and see if anyone rings you back?” Then had a thought,
“Maybe we should all put our mobiles on vibrate mode so if they ring, they won't attract those people back to us.”
Jenny already had that function set, and it appeared Matt did too. Only Jack and Sophie went into their settings.
Jenny tried to connect to the internet, but as usual, the little wheel on her screen seemed to get stuck in an eternal circle.
“Anyone got access to the internet?” she asked.
The others all attempted to connect. She waited. Sophie and Matt both shook their heads, but Jack
announced,
“I have.”
Matt said, “Bring up a news site.”
The remaining three moved closer to the young man so they could view his screen.
Jack typed News into the search box. A few moments later, he opened the BBC website. Even though the main headline looked small on the phone screen, they were all surprised by the words, which had been posted only half an hour before.
SEASONAL FLU CASES ON THE RISE.
“Flu!” Matt spat out angrily. “Why the hell aren’t they reporting what’s really going on?”
Jack said, “I’ll check some other sites.”
Matt and Sophie pulled their own phones out again. Jenny leaned her head back against the counter and waited as they tried to make phone calls or leave text messages.
“Um, guys,” Jack said. “The news sites all have the same headline and story. And all the big social media sites are down. Error 404 not found. Even YouTube and Facebook are showing it!”
“That can’t be a coincidence,” Jenny said.
“I think you’re right,” Matt agreed, “I think someone wanted us to be kept in the dark.”
“You mean somebody did this deliberately?” Sophie asked. “Why would they do that?”
Matt shrugged, “That’s the million dollar question.”
“My internet just died,” Jack said, “And the bars just dropped out on my phone. No signal.”
Jenny and the others checked their mobiles again and found they all had the same problem.
“My Mum hasn’t phoned me back yet, the signal won’t be off for long will it?” asked Sophie.
No one answered.
They sat in silence for the next five minutes, each lost in their own thoughts, then Jack asked,
“So, what’re we going to do? I haven’t even heard one emergency vehicle siren. If they don’t come to help us, what then?”
“I guess we stay here tonight and see how the situation looks in the morning,” Jenny said. “Maybe the police are dealing with another area right now. They could turn up at any time.”
But being honest with herself, she wasn't sure anyone was coming, and she believed Matt agreed. However, he was keeping his thoughts to himself for the moment, and she was glad about that.
Everyone lapsed into silence once more. The street outside was quiet apart from the dying car alarm. Jenny couldn't wait for the battery to go dead on that thing, it was getting on her nerves.
A little while later, she felt chilly and shivered, realising the interior of the shop was getting cold. It didn’t help that they were all sitting on the tiled floor. The heating must be on a timer, she concluded. And with the time now well after the shop would have closed, the heating system had shut off. The security monitor showed the area outside the shop was clear. So she announced to the group,
“The heatings gone off. I'll go and switch it back on and put the kettle on for tea or coffee. There's a toilet at the back if anyone needs to go.”
“Me,” Sophie said, raising her hand like she was in school.
Alarmed, Jack abruptly sat up straight,
“Does this place have a back door? Is it locked? What about windows?”
Matt was the one to reassure him,
“The back door’s secure. I checked it when I went to switch the lights off, and the other rooms, apart from the toilet are locked, so if anyone was breaking in the windows, we’d hear them, and they’d be stuck behind a locked door.”
Jenny added, “The windows at the back are blacked-out and have permanent security screens, both inside and out. The toilet doesn’t have a window.”
Jack relaxed again.
“Come on then,” Jenny said to Sophie. “I’ll show you where the toilet is. You’ll be able to put the light on in there.”
Jenny and Sophie made their way to the back of the gloomy shop floor. Jenny opened the wooden door which led to the small hallway where the store-room, staff room and the toilet were housed.
She opened the first door on the left, and flipped the
light switch. Illumination filled a claustrophobic little room which housed a washbasin and toilet, side by side. A towel rail and toilet-roll holder were attached to the wall. Two bottles of cleaning fluid sat on the floor beneath the sink, and a spare toilet roll squatted on top of the cistern. Jenny looked at Sophie and explained, pointing to the next door down on the left,
“That’s the staff room. I’ll be in there if you need anything.”
The girl nodded and entered the toilet, closing and locking the door behind her.
The other rooms in the hall were locked to ward of theft. Jenny fished out her set of staff keys from her jeans pocket. She put her ear up against the door and listened. All quiet. The rational side of her told her that the room was secure, but she was still nervous about entering. She placed the key in the lock and turned it, then listened once more. Satisfied that the staff room was okay, she turned the handle. However, a major bout of nerves overtook her and she found herself quickly opening the door a crack, hitting the light switch and pulling the door shut just as fast. She had the key ready to lock the door again.
No sound came from within the room, so she got a hold of herself and hesitantly opened the door. She kept a grip on the handle, just-in-case she needed to pull it shut fast. Of course, the room was unoccupied. She heaved a sigh of relief, and felt silly for being jumpy, but who could blame her after the evening’s events.
Looking towards the window, she could see it was secure. Jenny turned to her right and took a few steps into the narrow room, which was only six foot wide. She went to a small wood effect kitchen counter-top which was half taken up by an old built-in ceramic sink. On the other half, sat a white plastic kettle, which was plugged into the wall socket. A single melamine wall-cabinet hung above it. At the end of the floor unit, squashed up against the corner, was a battered plastic table, the type normally used in the garden. Only one wooden chair, that had also seen better days, was available for seating. Jenny didn't fancy sitting there though, as it was right under the window.
On the opposite wall from the kitchen units was a small pedal bin, the heating controls and a standing metal security locker, where she stored her coat and bag. She clicked the heating dial to continuous.
She decided she might as well take all the tea and coffee items to the shop front. She presumed everyone would want to stay there to alert any rescuers to their presence. She was grabbing mugs out of the overhead cupboard when Sophie appeared, asking if she needed any help. Jenny thanked her and directed the girl to unplug the kettle. Explaining that they would plug it in out front. Once it had boiled, anyone who wanted a hot drink could make it to their own liking. Jenny retrieved a small tray from the base unit and stacked it with the rest of the items. They could take a pint of milk from the shop’s refrigerated cabinet. Sophie closed the doors behind them and Jenny didn’t bother to lock the staff-room this time.
As they headed back to the guys, Matt met them half-way. Gesturing to the tray, he said,
“I’ll carry that.” She let him take it out of her hands.
“Ok, thanks. I’ll go get some milk.”
Jenny hurried away to the cabinet, grabbed what she wanted and also picked up what was left of the ready-made sandwiches. Six packs in all, of various fillings. Even though she didn’t feel hungry, her stomach was rumbling, so she decided to at least try and get some food inside her. Somehow she doubted that Mr Carter was going to be charging her for the missing stock. He would probably have binned them on Monday morning anyway.
On her way back, she met Matt again. He had a pack of cigarettes in his hand.
“Do you mind if I go and have a smoke through there?” he asked, nodding towards the back hall.
“No. Go ahead. The staff-room is unlocked if you want to use it. You can find a saucer to use as an ashtray.”
“Ok, thanks.”
She went back to the others and could hear the kettle rumbling away. The noise it was making
wasn’t being disturbed by the annoying car alarm. It had finally died. She put the milk and sandwiches on the counter.
“Help yourselves.” She said.
Sophie took the milk, but both youngsters ignored the food. Jenny joined them behind the counter and after the other two had poured boiling water into their mugs, she made herself a cup of tea.
It wasn’t long before the shop warmed up again, but after a few minutes sitting on the floor, her backside was frozen. The kettle needed refilling, so she picked it up and went to the back of the store again. Matt was just exiting the toilet.
“Hey Matt, would you mind filling this up while I get some things out of the stock room?” she asked. He nodded and took the kettle. Jenny faced the door to the room on the right. No messing about this time, she thought, unlocking the door. But she couldn’t help herself and held her breath while putting an ear to the wood veneer. Nothing. She scolded herself for being silly and pushed the door open.
“You want me to take this out front?” Matt asked, making her jump out of her skin. Her breath came out as a whew. Matt noticed and said,
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s Ok,” she replied, as her hand alighted on the room’s light switch and turned it on. This room was wider than the other one. And Jenny was thrilled to discover it wasn’t breached either.
The walls were lined with shelves holding boxes of stock. She could feel Matt watching her. A moment later he asked,
“You’re not going to start restocking the shop shelves are you?”
Jenny laughed,
“No, I’m not that much of a model employee. But there is something in here that will give us a little more comfort.”
