Alone

by Prunty, Mercedes

  “I’m so sorry”, I said.

  She shrugged, “Don’t be, it means they aren’t here in this hell hole anymore”.

  “How did you get out?” I asked.

  It was Darren’s turn to speak up, “We were both captured by them, I lied made them believe I was useful for them to keep rather than killing me. We made friends got to know each other and made an escape plan we just had to wait for the right moment. Then it came when a load of creatures somehow got into the camp and attacked everyone, we took our chance when everyone was fighting off the monsters, we ran right past them and hid in the city. They didn’t come looking for us instead they just moved on”.

  My heart dropped, “So they’re gone?”

  He nodded, “All we know is that they went down towards Worthing and maybe somewhere down past that”.

  “And this was what, a couple of months ago?” I said.

  “Yes… but they could be miles away now, the other end of the damn country for all we know…You can’t go after them now!” Monique snapped.

  Looking in her pain filled eyes I knew she wanted me to stay, “I have to”.

  “Why? Why do you have to?” she asked me getting right up into my face.

  “Because I made a promise to my dad before he died that I would”, I snapped back

  “That will get you killed!” She said.

  “And isn’t that up to me?” I said.

  She shook her head in dismay and walked off to the sofa and sat down, “So we saved your ass for nothing then, for you to just go and get it killed anyway?”

  “I’ve survived this long on my own, I can do it again”, I replied.

  “What like you did yesterday?” she hissed at me.

  I didn’t know what to say, yes I was nearly toast yesterday but I had been doing ok up until the point when the second screecher turned up. “Look I’m not asking you to come with me”, I said.

  “No that’s not the point Stacie, there is hardly anyone left in the world and the few people there are, most of them are fucked up! I thought finding you was meant to be like a godsend, to show us we aren’t the only nice people left, that we won’t be alone forever just us two”, she said.

  “You can’t force her to stay”, Darren said softly to her touching her shoulder.

  She pulled away, “I know I can’t, I just don’t want to see someone else who is a decent person die out there when all the bastards carry on living”.

  “We could help her so she doesn’t die”, Darren suggested.

  “What leave here? Go back to them?” She questioned him with such an anger in her voice.

  “Not what I meant, we could gear her up, give her some supplies, take her some of the way then when we know she’s ok we come back here and wait for the next survivor to come by”, he said.

  She mulled this over for a moment, “Well I guess we haven’t got much else to do other than sit in this broken fucking city and starve to death anyway”.

  “If its food you need I can teach you to hunt, I mean I hunt with my rifle but we could hunt with blades too or if there was a chance we could find guns near here we could get you one and hunt food. That way you won’t go hungry”, I suggested.

  “There was the old gun shop not too far from here, the other side of the shopping centre, we could go to the centre first get supplies then raid the old shop”, Darren said.

  “If there was anything left, the Big Guns would have raided it a long time ago”, she sulked.

  “Worth a try though right, then we could have proper weapons to arm ourselves with not just these knives”, Darren almost pleaded with her, I think he had become depressed living in this small dungeon, I think he needed the freedom even if it got him killed.

  “Fine, let’s pack up we leave in half an hour but if anything happens to either of us it’s on your head”, she pointed her finger at me accusingly then marched to her bed and ransacking a bag and a few boxes she kept with personal belongings.

  Feeling guilty that I was making them leave their almost safe haven I did also feel a little lifted that I wasn’t going to be stopped. I didn’t know how to actually feel about them coming with me I normally didn’t like people with me in case something happened to them because of a certain choice I made and that would play on my mind and make me do something stupid or come off course from my goal. Plus now that Monique told me if anything happens to them it would be my fault I was melting inside to a nervous wreck. I tried not to think of the worst possible outcome even though in this day and age that is pretty much all you could think of.

  Grabbing my bag again I checked all my things, my picture, my map, my pen knife, the lighter and a half filled bottle of water. The others were ready after a while of sorting through their possessions, what to take and what to leave behind, it all took time to figure out. Soon if not very begrudgingly Monique opened the main door and we set off out into the city. The weather was dismal again, the rain was drizzling with a cruel sea air twist to it sending spats of cold water dripping down my back where my hooded top could only keep out so much. I really need to find a coat. As Monique re-locked the doors to keep out any creeps whilst they were away me and Darren kept watch, searching the broken hotel for any sign of movement but lucky for us the rain seemed to have kept any wonderers away from here.

  “So what’s the plan?” Darren said to Monique.

  “Er…I thought we already went through this?” she asked confused.

  “Well you know what shops? What side of the centre shall we go for?” he asked her.

  “Hmm well we looted the north lane side already so shall we try the other side, there might be the odd untouched bundle of supplies”, she replied.

  Nodding Darren agreed with her, me on the other hand had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, “So you looted one side of the shopping centre but not the other side yet?”

  “Well in the middle the roof has collapsed meaning you can only explore small amounts at a time”, he replied as if I should of known.

  “Oh ok”, I said as we set off, the rain hammered down over me making a chill settle in my bones, the others just strode on ahead keeping their blades up and ready at all times. Keeping my own weapon up and ready I followed them as they hiked up a small hill made up from the rubble of fallen buildings, parked and abandoned cars all crushed into molten down metal and the odd skeleton just for good measure. I tried to be careful not to tread on the bodies of the fallen it just seemed too disrespectful to me but Monique and Darren didn’t seem to care they just trampled on everything not even looking down to see what they walked on. After about ten minutes or so of walking I thought I heard the slight rumble of thunder in the distance, my stomach twisted in knots as I knew all too well about the older ones and the storms, neither of my new acquaintances said anything about finding shelter, maybe there were no older creatures left in Brighton maybe it was younger ones and the screechers. I sure as hell hoped I didn’t bump into too many of those things, they were so creepy and the noise, well just the thought of the noise was unbearable.

  The rubble from these ruined buildings was making what must have once been a very easy walk to the shopping centre a mission for us, my legs burned from climbing up the mounds of dirt and metal, every now and then we would be walking over a section of ground when it would give way making us all run to reach the other side before gaping holes would appear. You could see right down into the old sewer system which had lain hidden under the city but now was a part of it. As we clambered up from another small hole we heard one of the ones behind us give way even more, a small plume of debris smoke wafted up into the air as a loud crash echoed around the eerily quiet city centre.

  “We better move, the screechers will have heard that one and come looking”, Monique said looking a little on edge.

  “How many of those things are there?” I asked feeling shocked there was more than just a few of them.

  “Don’t know but we have encountered at least twenty so far, plus the two
yesterday”, She replied keeping on high alert as we turned a corner which led down part of a road that was still quite intact.

  The street looked fairly normal, rows of terraced houses lined up either side with the odd old shop front, even the cars here looked drivable, although I knew they would be useless now due to the battery cells dying off from the lack of use but there was still the odd one out there that you could pick up that would work, not that I could drive.

  The darkened doorways of some of the houses looked haunted, I could just imagine a creature or two lying in wait to ambush us when we least expected it. We continued up almost reaching a corner to the next street when Darren put his hand to my chest to make me stop, Monique had ducked down behind a car and was looking out, I followed Darren as he kneeled behind an old dumpster bin. Using the scope on my rifle I looked out to see six screechers roaming the street, they were bundling out of a nearby shop front where the glass had all shattered, they must have taken refuge inside from the rain and the loud noise from the hole collapsing brought them all out to play again. Watching them all sniffing the air trying to find us, their new prey, this was so unnerving how these things had such a heightened sense of smell, it was more animal than human, someone must have experimented on them not just because of the sewn up eyes but the fact that they acted so different.

  “We need to find another way round”, Darren whispered.

  “And what way do you suggest?” Monique asked him angrily this did look like the only route to where we were headed.

  “There’s the road that goes past the hospital, yes it takes longer but it might be better than getting these guys attacking us, there’s no way were can sneak past you know that”, he replied to her.

  She didn’t even think about it she just said, “No!”

  “Look I know that place creeps you out but it’s not as if we would be going in it, just around it”, he said.

  She thought for a moment before one of the Screechers cried out, “Fine but if that road is swarming we come back and find another way, I am not going in that hospital”.

  All agreeing that we would come back if trouble arose we silently headed away from the screechers and back the way we came, a few broken streets away we cut through an old shop which had no roof, front or back it was just a large alleyway really just building shaped.

  I soon found out why Monique hated the old hospital so much, as we approached it a strange eerie vibe encircled the pit of my stomach, the walls on the outside were covered in graffiti telling me that ‘The end was near’, ‘God was punishing us all’ and my personal favourite, ‘The creatures are people too’ written in red spray paint but it could have passed for blood. A tall glass tower which was attached to the building led up into the stormy sky, most of the levels of glass were all smashed and broken other than the last few top floors they all seemed pretty much intact. It swamped the skyline almost swaying in the sea breeze, it felt like it was blowing down a stench of putrid fear something that played in the back of your mind, you couldn’t put your finger on it but you knew something was wrong in there. The evil being omitted from that place was acrid so much so you could taste it on the tip of your tongue, like fear but worse, you could roll it around in your mouth and try to spit it out but the taste of evil was still there. The rest of the old style architecture looked like it came from one of those old horror movies that today would look hilarious compared to the real horror people witnessed now, the white washed brick walls leading up to a very ornate looking roof which swirled in a pattern, the paint was peeling off casting stained shadows over it. As I stared I could almost hear the old hum of the city, the sirens, people talking and cars driving, not that it mattered now as standing here it was silent, so silent if someone dropped a pin from the top of the tower you would be sure to hear it. Looking up again at the tower my heart stopped momentarily in my chest, I could have sworn I saw a person looking down at us, it was hard to make out due to it being so high up but it really did look like a man was looking down. I grabbed Darren’s shoulder and pointed up, he turned to look at what I was pointing to but the person had gone!

  A Chill ran down my spine and sent the hairs on my arms standing on end.

  “What am I looking at?” he asked me.

  “I, I, I dunno”, I replied feeling foolish. What if it had just been my imagination where my brain was playing on what Monique hated about it? Deciding to keep it to myself I shook my head, “It was nothing sorry”.

  He shook his head at me but carried on walking, Monique just looked at me then looked up at where I had pointed to before continuing on with Darren. I took one last look up at the glass tower and shivered, I was pretty sure I had seen a face and it haunted my brain, a cruel twisted curve of a smile, dark hair and deathly pale skin. I shook my self mentally how could I have seen all of that from down here? There was no way I would have seen someone smile from up there that would just be silly person thinking, I was just jumpy that’s all. Just like Monique I vowed to myself I was not going to be setting foot in that place unless my life depended on it, which it wouldn’t, I would make sure it wouldn’t. The storm clouds swarmed around the tower like birds to a nest, the clouds making the tower sway and dance in the shimmering droplets of rain. I felt a little sick looking at it so I turned my head away making sure I just kept focused on the images of the other broken buildings on the path in front of us.

  ~

  Doctor Demetri Hercules Matthias had taken the hospital to be his home many moons ago, way before the war and way before the acid attack and the infection started. He had prided himself on his work. Fixing patients broken bodies so they were as good as new, his co-workers had nick named him Dr Death, as there were many occasions when the patient should have died on the operating table but due to Demetri’s ‘magic hands’ they had miraculously come back from the brink, narrowly avoiding death itself. His brain was a piece of art, a masterpiece of the modern day world making sure he worked fast and that his hands knew exactly what to do and when. Really and truly they should have called him ‘Dr Life’ seen as he saved so many, even now in these dark and dreary times he was helping and saving people, taking them into his home, fixing them up and sending them back out into the world new and improved, so much better than they had been before and at least now they would have a chance at surviving in this chaotic world.

  As he stood peering down from the top of the tall glass tower from a cracked window he spotted the next person he needed to help. She wore her hair long, blonde and up in a ponytail which danced swishing from side to side as she walked but he could fix that by tearing chunks of it out and turning it to a blood red tinge it would suit her much better, her small petite athletic frame would need bulking out a bit more, definitely more meat needed to be applied to those bones and after all he had plenty of it, meat. The frozen storage room two floors below him held all he needed to conduct his operations to save people, arms, legs and carcasses of human flesh that needed a new home to be alive again, a new host to latch on to so they could walk once again.

  Watching the young girl and taking no notice of the two other people she was travelling with, he day dreamed of what he would turn her into, she could become a marvellous creation of anything in his imagination. Just at that moment she turned and looked up but annoyingly to him he had that lazy drooling look over his face when he thought about his work. He noticed that she tried to alert her companions to his person so he ducked down behind a huge veil of broken shattered glass that he knew would hide him from her view. He couldn’t have her see him now that would ruin the special surprise he had planned for her, it could all be spoilt by his inability to hide his excitement, plus her finding out too prematurely might make her not appreciate what he had planned she might try to persuade him to other less heroic adjustments making it a pointless and useless operation and he couldn’t allow that. He had his pride, his career to think about, mucking up now would mean certain failure and he couldn’t handle failure he would rather die than fail
at his job.

  Giving it a few more seconds he then stood up slowly looking out above the glass to find her, she had started walking again tailing behind her so called friends. They looked to be heading towards the old shopping centre and he knew that the girl and boy she was with would be going there as he had been out on many occasions looking for people to help and had seen them looting the place. He had no interest in helping them as they were beyond it, they meant no harm to him he knew that, he had kept to the shadows watching them but they meant harm to his people and that meant they were beyond anything even he could do and now if he didn’t act quickly they could harm his precious new patient. He knew they would harm her, as he had left his people to meet and greet these two before in the shopping centre and they had torn them apart, leaving them for dead, all his hard work ruined. He had to be rid of these two pests, they were vermin and they needed eradicating.

  Turning rather fast on his heel with his lab coat swishing behind him in a blur of white and red from a few blood spatters that had gotten on him when he done his last operation he headed towards the stairs. He was going up a level to the maternity suite he had to check on his expectant patients before he set off to greet the girl. Thinking himself a saviour he knew there wasn’t many places an expectant mother could go to now a days to give birth but he prided himself on this fact too that he kept the maternity ward open and not just for the mothers, he liked the fathers to be there too.

  Walking into the ward the hum of the generator let him know that his patients were still fine as there was still electricity being pumped around keeping them all happy, he had set up five generators in total around the hospital, one on each of the top five floors he occupied. He had chosen the top floors due to them being safest from intruders, thieves and pests that like to chew through cables, up here they were relatively safe, although he had set up cameras to keep tabs on the other floors, ‘Couldn’t have any more vermin come in and think they own the place and steal my food’ this thought angered him as he remembered back to a few days ago when the two red haired rats entered his home and stole from him, he hadn’t caught them yet but he knew he had the upper hand as he had cameras all around to keep an eye out for them. He had spotted them a few times trying to escape but he would burst in making them flee back into the air vents which unfortunately he couldn’t fit into but sooner or later they would need more food and then he would get them.