All hope of catching up with Judd and Stevens had gone. They were probably half way back to London by now, but it didn’t stop her thinking up cruel and unusual ways she could punish them to pass the time.
All she could do now was move forward without looking back. The past didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered now was her determination to survive. As hardened to emotion as she had become, she was still unable to block out the ever-present feeling that cavers were still around, watching her every move. It doesn’t matter how far I travel or where I end up, there will always be cavers lurking in the back of my mind. I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life, just as I live with what happened the day the world went to shit.
But her will to survive kept her taking one step after another. She had no other choice but to make it—for the sake of the ones who perished. I now know what I must do. I need to complete the mission that my unit set out to accomplish. I won’t, no, I can’t, rest until I have something to show for it. Even if I only save one person, my unit’s sacrifices will not be wasted.
Lost in her thoughts, Catherine failed to notice that she’d wandered into unfamiliar territory. With no points of reference to guide her, she was lost. Darkness shrouded the ravine she found herself travelling through. The walls of the narrow passage felt as if they were closing in. Inspecting the rock above, visions of being crushed by an avalanche of stone plagued her mind. Adrenalin flooded her exhausted body. Heart racing, she picked up speed, happy for the first time that she no longer carried the bergen.
Even in the fading light, the ravine’s exit was visible in the distance. A small smile twitched her lips. It was a silly thing, but she didn’t fight the urge as she’d done in the past. She just let the smile envelope her mouth as she ran toward the end of her claustrophobic hell.
The end couldn’t come soon enough. Tired and hungry, with hysteria creeping up on her, she needed to find a place to bed down, even if it meant sleeping out in the open. Not relishing the idea of braving the elements, she reminded herself that she’d probably left the caves, and the chance of encountering more cavers, behind her. The beasts were territorial and seldom travelled far from their lairs. Only out of necessity would they do so.
The ravine had now widened at the top. With clear sky above her, intellectually, she knew rocks could no longer fall and crush her, but the fear was still there. Her clothes were soaked but it didn’t slow her down. Why am I doing this? I have no water to replenish what I’m losing in sweat— I could die through dehydration. Despite her rational mind trying to reassert itself, the clawing fear drove her on.
~
Hyde exited into a vast landscape that had once been covered in lush greenery, but like everywhere else, it had been turned into a grey nightmare. Through pure exhaustion, she collapsed to her knees and placed her hands in the dirt. Her head fell forward, in between her arms for a moment. I... need... to ... keep... going, she told herself, drawing slow, uneven breaths in an attempt to calm the frantic rhythm of her heart. Running had taken its toll, and the need for water was becoming critical. Shaking her head didn’t alleviate the dizziness or the onset of a dehydration headache. The inside of her mouth was unbearably dry, so she chewed her cheek in an effort to wake up her saliva glands.
Daylight was fading fast, casting long, sweeping shadows across the landscape. Hyde had resigned herself to sleeping in the open, as all there seemed to be in front of her was open space as far as the eye could see. The thought of staying where she had knelt was so appealing, giving in felt so right, so comfortable, but the instinct to survive was strong in her blood. Anything could come through the same ravine she had and dispatch her.
Hungry, dehydrated, exhausted mentally and physically, she willed herself to get up, but her knees refused. It slowly dawned on her that she’d succumbed. Her arms collapsed from under her. Her face hit the dirt, cheek first as comforting blackness stole her fears.
~
Pearls of water stinging her cheek brought her back to the world. The relief from her desperate thirst came in the guise of a heavy dawn shower. Rolling gingerly onto her back, despite every muscle groaning, she opened her mouth. It felt like heaven on her cracked lips as she tried to catch every drop on her tongue. The rain drenching her grimy clothes felt wonderful. A smile tickled her lips— it was becoming a habit. The water had brought her back to life, like a wilting flower. She could have moved, she could have found herself a safer place, but the feeling of being alive was too overwhelming to move. I feel like a cat with nine lives. I have survived so many things that have killed other, far stronger, people. Why me?
After an hour of continuous downpour, the rain ceased, as if someone had turned off a tap. Shaking with cold, Hyde tried to think of the last time there had been that much rain, but her mind couldn’t think back that far. She just lay on her back in a newly formed rivulet, shivering, staring at the clearing sky, which was a mixture of grey and blue intertwined. She watched the sun peek its head out from behind the dissipating clouds.
Feeling dirty, cold and wet, she decided she’d been lying around long enough. She felt ready for whatever lay ahead of her, whether it be another day of struggling to survive or a day of fulfilment—she was ready for either.
~
Hyde had been walking for what felt like ages, with nothing but the muddy landscape and the odd rock formations for visual stimulation. She wasn’t quite sure where she was in relation to getting back to London, but the sun told her she was heading south, which was as good a start as any.
With her clothes nearly dry, and the sun beating down, her forehead started to burn as sweat trickled down her back. It soon became apparent that the water she’d consumed during the storm wasn’t enough. Her thoughts were becoming confused and her head throbbed. Fortunately, full blown hallucinations hadn’t hit yet, but as the ground appeared to be quivering around her, she was sure they were on their way.
Every step was becoming slower and her knees were starting to buckle, but the choice was walk or die. During her Army basic training, she had been taught how to survive in adverse conditions. But now she was having difficulty remembering which day it was, let alone how to survive with nothing but her wiles. Yet she walked on, keeping her heavy head high, as if nothing in this world could stop her.
I’ve survived worse than this over the space of a week. Suck it up Hyde and stop fucking whining like a baby! Summoning as much strength as she could, she picked up the pace.
Looking ahead she thought she could see two figures. At least they looked like people, rather than cavers. And they weren’t wearing uniforms. Great! I’m fucking starting to hallucinate survivors. The corporal staggered toward the figures, but before reaching them, the light-headedness increased. She felt herself falling to the ground, and there was nothing that could be done to stop it.
CHAPTER 7
Hyde awoke to water dripping on her forehead, and a cloth wiping her face. The surface she was lying on was uneven, and the smell of damp and body odour was heavy on the air. Struggling to focus, she became more aware of her surroundings as the seconds ticked by. From the looks of it, she was in a cave, surrounded by artificial light.
She shuffled back on her elbows as a blurry object moved slowly towards her. On feeling its touch, Hyde knew it to be someone’s hand, and again the damp cloth wiped over her face before finding its way to her exposed neck. She pushed on the arm of the person tending to her, focusing upon the face. It was a young woman. Hyde guessed that she was in her mid- to late teens. Her two-tone blonde hair hung in a loose ponytail, and her fringe fell into her eyes. Tight-fitting jeans and a baggy T-shirt, which looked out of place on her, that read ‘Ban the Bomb’ with a peace symbol below it, screamed ‘teen’.
“Dad, she’s awake,” the girl yelled over her shoulder, making her patient flinch.
“I’m on my way,” a deep voice replied, catching Hyde’s attention immediately.
After a slight adjustment of her arms and legs
, she realised that, for once, she hadn’t been restrained. It remained to be seen how long this would last. Not giving them a reason to mistrust her would be a better start than the one she’d achieved upon meeting Judd and Stevens. She wondered if her story would convince them that she wasn’t a threat: that she was just as much a victim of the apocalypse as they were.
With effort, she focused on the girl who gazed back with what appeared to be curiosity. But Hyde could only imagine what was going through the girl’s mind. Her eyes were dark in the weak light, rendering them unreadable. The only thing apparent was that the girl seemed to be fascinated by her, as if she were some kind of alien, there to be picked apart and explored. Furrowing her brow in frustration, Hyde kept silent, wanting to gather some information about these people before revealing any potential weakness of her own.
“Move away from her, Jas,” the same deep voice as before boomed.
Hyde looked up to see an angry-looking, weathered man leaning against a wall under a torch light just within her eye line. This new set of captors appeared to be a damned sight friendlier than the cavers.
“Who are you? Why am I here?” Hyde asked, eyeing her host with the kind of suspicion her previous encounters had instilled in her.
“We found you lying unconscious beyond the ravine. And as for answering your question, I’d like to ask you the same thing.”
He towered over her, his wavy grey hair strewn out over his face, and mingling with his foot-long beard, which was encrusted with small traces of dry blood. Hyde hoped it had come from an animal. He was weird and repulsive, she couldn’t take her eyes away, but the stink of his breath forced her to gag and turn her head. Her stomach began to churn. He stopped and stared at the corporal. The dirty silk scarf hanging around his neck waved in Hyde’s face, causing her to bat at it. The bearded man sniffed at her, then stood back upright, scrunching his nose. If you think I stink, get a whiff of yourself arsehole.
“So, who are you? And what are you doing in the Dales?” the man asked as he folded his arms across his chest and tapped his fingers on his biceps, showing an immediate impatience at her lack of reply. “You will answer me, or you will end up like your friends in there,” he threatened, pointing to the entrance of another chamber.
What is he talking about? Why is he so mad at me? I haven’t done anything wrong!
“Friends?” she croaked. “I have no friends left, they’re all dead.”
“Get her up,” the man ordered, beckoning over two men she hadn’t noticed. Pushing themselves away from the wall they’d been propped up against, the men strode purposefully over. Shuffling her arse backwards, Hyde found herself cornered. They stood either side of her and hauled her upright. She winced as they forced her shattered body to move when it didn’t want to.
When they led her through to another chamber, Hyde’s jaw dropped. In the dim torch light, she saw two men in a pitiful state. Judd and Stevens were hanging by their wrists from a naturally-made rafter, their feet dangling, not being able to touch the floor, and their mouths stuffed with dirty rags. They’d been beaten bloody, and their flesh had been torn in places, which made her think that the blood on her captor’s beard was from them. She smirked at their warranted misfortune.
“Feeling comfortable up there? It’s less than you two deserve.” She turned to the bearded man, her anger apparent. “You think these arseholes are my friends? I saved them from the cavers and they stole all my equipment and left me to fend for myself. They’re no friends of mine. So, you can do what you like with them, although I’d like to participate or at least watch,” she said as a strong desire to lash out at her betrayers rose to the surface. She tried in vain to pull away from the two men who kept a firm grip on her arms.
“Calm down, young lady,” one of them said, as they forced her to her knees and pushed her stomach flat to the ground, holding her fast. “I don’t want to have hurt you.”
“You can’t do anything to me that hasn’t already been done,” she mumbled, sucking up a mouthful of dirt.
“Bring her to me,” the bearded man ordered.
“Sure, Marcus,” one of the men replied, turning his attention to Hyde. “Come on you!”
The men stood her up again, but this time they hammer-locked her arms behind her back, placing their free hands on either shoulder to prevent struggling. The three of them frog marched over to Marcus and stood in front of him. He grabbed hold of her face and pointed his index finger at her.
“You’d best check that attitude of yours, soldier.” By the way he held himself, Hyde suspected he also had a military background. “Now, tell me who you are and what you are doing here?”
The thought of ending up like Judd and Stevens played heavily on her mind as she thought about how she would reply. Instinctively, her ‘evade and capture’ training kicked in.
“Corporal, 35695!” Hyde bellowed in her best Army voice, and stared blankly ahead.
“I’ve had enough!” Marcus said through gritted teeth.
Relinquishing his grip, he backhanded her. She reeled in pain, shifting her jaw from left to right, then hung her head for a moment to gain composure. Marcus asked the question again. Again, she only divulged her rank and serial number as she’d been trained. I can’t give in to him, I can’t! How do I know if he is friend or foe? Will I end up like those two, hanging from a rafter, left to die? I’m not taking any chances with these guys. And what’s to say that if I trust them, they won’t end up doing the same thing as Judd and Stevens did? I’ve been burnt once...never again. She willed herself to remain strong under Marcus’s interrogation, even if it did mean enduring more pain.
Marcus grabbed hold of her hair with both hands and brought her face to meet his.
“Tell me who you are, and what you are doing here. Help me to help you. I don’t want to hurt you anymore,” he said as he closed his eyes and placed his forehead against hers. The grip on her tightened as she tried to escape the two men’s grasp. Marcus opened his eyes and took hold of her head.
“Corporal, my instincts tell me that I can trust you, and that you are not lying to me about those two men hanging in there. For the sake of my people, I need to know that you are in no way a part of them, can you do that?”
Hyde nodded and proceeded to answer the question.
“I’m Corporal Catherine Hyde of the King’s Fusiliers. I was part of a search and rescue mission to find and help survivors. There were ten of us originally, but cavers ambushed us. Those who stayed behind at the base camp were killed by scavengers. I escaped, but the cavers...” she trailed off, not wanting to relive the horror of what had happened to the others. “I found those two bastards being dragged off by cavers. I saved them and they promised to get me back to London. They waited till I was asleep then took my stuff and left me to die.”
Upon finishing her story, her interrogator seemed to regret hitting her. Sympathy showed in his eyes as he ordered his men to let her go. She knelt, and took a deep breath to compose herself. She felt weak, dizzy, light-headed. Marcus placed his hand on her shoulder, it sent a shiver down her spine.
“As you might have heard, my name is Marcus. I was a Captain in Her Majesty’s Army many years ago. I have been through a lot in these past few years, but nothing compares to what you have been through in the past few days. No further harm will come to you, as far as those two are concerned.” With that, he walked away.
She looked up at the two trussed-up men who had betrayed her kindness, thinking of all the ways she could torture them. They didn’t look dangerous anymore. Faced with their pathetic, abused bodies, she wondered if she had the guts to carry out her intentions.
~
“Come, Hyde—eat.” Marcus said as he pushed a piece of burnt meat toward her chest. She grabbed the food from him, and started in with vigour.
“What is it?”
“Ask no questions, just finish your food,” Marcus replied as he gestured for her to eat again.
She tucked in, her stomach
, ravenous, no thanks to Judd and Stevens, who seemed to have quietened down considerably as the evening wore on. Hyde knew it was evening because the screeching bats in the farthest reaches of the cave had started to unnerve her. The noise ceased abruptly, and she glanced up at her host for an explanation, but he offered none and carried on eating.
Looking down at what remained of her meat, she felt her gorge rise, as she thought of what it might be. It can’t be, I’m not eating human flesh, am I? Oh God! I’m no better than a fucking caver! She stared at the plate of food in her lap, and started to gag.
“You seem to have turned a peculiar shade of green, my dear,” Marcus remarked in amusement. “What’s the matter?”
She looked up at him, eyes wide.
“What kind of meat is this, sir?” She held her breath, not sure she wanted to hear his answer.
“Oh! My dear girl—do you think you are eating human flesh?” Marcus screwed up his face and scoffed at the very idea. “No, we haven’t resorted to doing that just yet, and I would never turn the children among us into cannibals.” His frown convinced her that he found the idea as revolting as she did.
“I’m sorry, sir... I just thought...” Hyde trailed off and hung her head in embarrassment.
“Oh no, my dear girl, but I can see it would be an easy mistake to make.” Marcus put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Look at me, soldier.”
Unable to resist the order, Hyde raised her eyes and waited for him to speak again. “We have other plans for those two in there,” He pointed to the other chamber. “They tried to hold us at gunpoint while they took our food supplies. They killed three of my people in the process. We buried them yesterday, fully intact. So, rest assured, it is not human flesh you’re consuming. Even after what those bastards did, I don’t intend to kill them. I’ll let nature do that for me.”
Only the Few (Only The Few Book 1) Page 5
