by Ryan Casey
Bella frowned. “What?”
“Emma came to visit earlier,” he said. “You were already flat out. She said she hadn’t seen Mrs Fuzzles since earlier today. Neither has Hazel. And I… well. I guess I’m feeling a little guilty, ’cause I’m the last guy anyone saw her with.”
Bella yawned, rubbed her eyes. “I’m sure she’ll show up.”
Harry turned on to his back. “Yeah, well. I should at least take a look around the block. I’m sure she won’t have got far.”
He climbed out of bed and threw some shoes on.
“Wait, now?” Bella asked.
“You know what I’m like for my late-night walks.”
“Yeah, but… but the people in the woods. The ones Jack told us about.”
“You know what Jack’s like,” he said. “He exaggerates. Besides. There’s armed people on guard out there taking extra precautions. We have nothing to worry about. We’re going to be okay. This place, it’s too big for a bunch of crazy hippies to take. You know it and I know it. Don’t humour that guy’s delusions, okay?”
He leaned in to kiss Bella, but she turned away.
“Whoa,” he said. “Did I strike a nerve?”
“Jack’s … Jack sometimes acts a little paranoid. But his heart is in the right place. He only ever wants the best for his people.”
“And I appreciate that,” Harry said. “Which is why we’re stepping up patrol and keeping a closer eye on this place. Gotta face it, Bella. We’re doing everything we can. We’re going to be okay. I’m going to be okay. Okay?”
He leaned over towards Bella. Looked into her eyes.
And then this time, she kissed him.
“Just make sure you aren’t out there too long,” she said. “I don’t want you coming back here wearing a hippie dress.”
Harry smirked. “I’ll try my best not to. Although, let’s be real. I’d pull it off, right?”
Bella shook her head, unamused.
Harry stayed there for a few seconds. Looked down, right into her eyes.
“I’m going to be okay,” he said.
Bella felt a churning sensation in her stomach. A reminder of a past of abandonment. The death of her parents in the accident. Going from a comfortable, loving family home to being made an orphan overnight.
The mental strain that had on her.
The way her life had unfolded, piece by piece, ever since.
She thought about the spiral of darkness she’d fallen down. Depression. Mental illness. Ending up in institutions for her own safety.
She thought about the world before, and how little she felt like it was for her.
And then she thought of the world since and how… well, freeing it was.
Because it might be a world without power. It might be a world where survival was the priority above anything else.
But it was an honest world.
It was a world where she could be herself.
Where she felt like she fitted in more than she used to.
It was a world where she’d fallen in love.
“Make sure you do come back,” she said.
Harry sighed as he stood there by the door, blond hair swept over his forehead. His twinkling eyes glistened back at her. His smile, so perfect, such a constant on his face. “I promise,” he said.
She watched him open the door. Felt the warm night breeze sweep inside the caravan.
Then she watched him turn away.
Step outside the caravan doors.
“I love…”
The caravan door slammed shut.
“…you,” she said.
She lay there, alone in the dark.
She listened to Harry’s footsteps disappear towards the woods, like they had so many times at night already.
And then they faded, and in their place was silence.
Chapter Eleven
It was only when Harry actually entered the woods that he started to feel a little afraid.
It was pitch black. The night was still, and there was barely any breeze. There were no sounds other than his footsteps against the terrain, his own breathing. Everything was so silent.
And tonight, something felt different.
He’d come into these woods a number of times. He often came out in the middle of the night. He’d always enjoyed night-time walks. He liked the serenity of the night. He liked how untouched everything was by people; how everyone who was out were all the same as him. There was a bond between them. A shared understanding.
This should be something he was comfortable with. It should be something that put him at ease.
But he didn’t feel at ease at all.
He’d passed by Guy and Krishna, the armed guards on night duty, about ten minutes ago. Told them he wouldn’t be long, he just wanted to take a look for Mrs Fuzzles. He was partly telling the truth, of course. He felt more secure, seeing them there, holding their rifles. More at ease.
But there was another reason for Harry being out here.
He wanted to get a sense of who these people Jack feared were.
Weigh up whether they were a threat or not.
He doubted it. After all, as decent as Heathwaite’s was, he wasn’t sure it was really worth attacking for any great resource.
Besides. They were a pragmatic group. They were more than happy to work alongside others to a common goal. That was the essence of society now. A functioning society could only work if people came together. He’d learned that a long time ago.
And fortunately now, four months in, most people who had made it this far realised that too.
But there was still that uncertainty.
What if one group wanted it all for themselves?
What if one group were takers rather than collaborators?
His thoughts trailed off when he heard something to his right.
A rustling.
No doubt about it. A rustling in the night.
He knew he shouldn’t be worried. It was probably just an animal.
But again, something had him feeling touchy. Something had him on edge.
The knowledge of the unknown.
They’d come across many groups since settling down at Heathwaite’s. Most were decent. Some of them they’d worked up good trade ties with.
Others, not so great, but they hadn’t exactly threatened their existence. There was always a way to resolve any situation. There was always a common ground. Everyone was just trying to survive in this world, after all.
But what if there was someone out there who didn’t want to reach common ground?
He ignored those thoughts and moved towards the rustling.
Knife tightly in hand.
The closer he got, the more his concern grew. There was definitely rustling, definitely something there. He wanted to see it. He wanted to know. He wanted to take the fear of the unknown out of the equation.
But at the same time… he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
He shook his head. Puffed out his lips.
He was being ridiculous.
He was tougher than this.
He wasn’t some little kid.
The chances of there being a threat out here were slim. He was getting carried away with improbabilities. This wasn’t a story, after all. This was real life.
He pushed the bushes aside when he saw her.
Mrs Fuzzles was sitting there in the grass, staring at him.
Harry lowered his knife and laughed. “Mrs Fuzzles. What the hell are you doing out here?”
He went to move towards her when she shot off into the distance.
“No,” he said. “Wait.”
He went after her. The darkness grew thicker. The silence stronger.
He worried he’d lost her completely.
And then he reached her and…
Something made him freeze. Stopped him, right in his tracks.
Mrs Fuzzles was sitting there.
But surrounding her was something that made Harry’s spine tingle.
&
nbsp; There was a circle of rats. All of them had been gutted. All of them in a perfect circle, Mrs Fuzzles right in the middle of them.
“What…” he said.
He reached for her.
She growled.
“Come on,” he said, heart picking up. “No time to dick around, cat. We’ve gotta…”
Then he heard it.
The rustling.
This time, behind him.
He looked back.
Nobody there.
He shrugged it off. Probably just being paranoid again. He needed to keep his shit together. Couldn’t get carried away.
He ignored the ring of rats, creepy as it was, and reached for Mrs Fuzzles.
She lashed out and scratched him.
He yanked his hand back. “What the hell?”
He looked at the blood on his hand, trickling down. Saw it, black in the moonlight.
And then he looked into Mrs Fuzzles eyes and saw her staring right back at him.
“Mrs Fuzzles? What…”
He felt it, then.
Something wrapping around his throat. Something sharp. Something tight.
A bolt of fear filled his body.
As did the sense that someone was right behind him.
“Don’t worry,” a male voice whispered, holding that sharp wire around his neck. “It’ll be over soon.”
He tried to struggle free.
He tried to shout; tried to scream.
But all he could do was stare down at that ring of rats.
All he could do was watch as Mrs Fuzzles licked her blood-soaked paws.
And all he could do was fall to his knees in the light of the moon as that tightness got more and more suffocating…
Chapter Twelve
Jack hadn’t been awake for long when he heard the commotion outside his caravan.
Someone was out there in the street making a scene, which was unusual for this time of morning. He was still a little woozy, so he wasn’t sure who it was right away. He thought about getting out of bed and telling them to shut up.
But as he walked across the warm caravan floor and pulled his curtains aside, he realised something was wrong.
It was Bella.
She was speaking with Hazel. Hazel had her hands on her arms. It looked like she was trying to calm her down.
There were a few other people around, too. Gregory stood to one side, arms folded. Emma was there too, eyes narrowed, like she was scared about something; fearful of something Bella was saying.
Jack’s instinct was to close those curtains and head back to bed. If he buried his head in the sand, he didn’t have to get involved.
But then he tightened his fists.
He couldn’t just back away.
He had to know what was going on.
Especially with his fears over what could be on the horizon, out there in the woods.
He quickly got dressed, fed Villain some leftover goose eggs, which reminded him of Donny, and then took a deep breath before stepping outside his caravan.
It was another warm day. He could feel himself starting to sweat immediately. His mouth was dry, and his stomach cried out for food.
He’d grab some food soon.
But there was something else he had to address first.
Now he was outside, he could tell Bella was louder than he’d realised. Once again, that reluctance expanded through his body. They were already dealing with Bella’s problem, whatever it was. There was no reason for him to get involved.
He was about to turn around when he noticed something.
It was something Gregory asked. Something that caught Jack’s ear.
“What time did he leave?”
With those words, Jack knew what this was right away. Harry. It had to be Harry. Something had happened to Harry.
So he walked down the stones, across the road, over to Hazel’s caravan; to the scene of the commotion.
Emma noticed him first. Bella was in a world of her own. She was rubbing her hands against her arms so hard that they looked sore. Her eyes were wide. She looked pale, like she hadn’t got a lot of sleep.
“What’s happening here?” Jack asked.
Hazel looked past Bella, over at Jack. She looked hesitant, at first, as if she was picking up on his own reluctance to get involved.
But eventually, it was Emma who cut in.
“It’s Harry,” she said, confirming Jack’s fears. “He’s gone.”
Jack frowned. “Gone? Gone where?”
“Into the woods last night,” Bella snapped. “He—he went to find Mrs Fuzzles. She went missing. He—he goes out there at night sometimes. But never like this. He always comes back. Always.”
Bella sounded hysterical, like she was on the verge of cracking up.
“I’m sure he… he probably just got lost. Or something.”
Bella glared at him. “Don’t patronise me, Jack. You don’t believe that for a second, do you?”
Jack wanted to tell her he did believe it. But he couldn’t lie. He was worried. Worried about the girl he’d run into in the woods. Worried about the people she’d told him about, and the group he’d seen.
Worried about Him, whoever He was.
So in the end he didn’t even attempt to dress things up to try calming Bella. “Has anyone gone looking for him?”
Hazel sighed. “Guy and Krishna say they saw him leave in the early hours. Never came back. They’re out looking for him now.”
Jack nodded. He was satisfied about that. A part of him really wanted to believe that this was all a misunderstanding; that he was going to turn up.
But he had a bad feeling about this.
“Guy and Krishna. They know these woods. They’ll know what they’re doing.”
Bella turned around and glared at him. “So you’re suggesting we just sit around and wait?”
“I’m suggesting we let them do their jobs. There’s… there’s not a lot we can do.”
Bella shook her head. She wiped her eyes. “When did you get so weak?”
Those words hurt Jack. Because she knew damn well when he’d “got so weak”. What happened to his son had broken him. It had ruined his desire to lead ever again.
And it wasn’t just something he was able to just back away from privately. Those around him noticed. They saw what had happened to him and they didn’t like the person it was turning him into.
He saw the disappointment in Bella’s eyes, and he wanted to tell her he’d go out there himself and search for Harry.
He looked at all these people. Saw the way they glanced at him, like they too were begging him to intervene; to suggest something that would bring them hope.
But then Jack just looked away and turned down the road.
“I’ve… I’ve got work to do,” he said. “Harry will show up. I’m sure of it.”
He could feel the daggers burning into his back with every step.
He could feel his face burning red.
And he could hear the words screaming in his head.
Coward.
You’re a coward.
You killed your daughter and you killed your son and you’re nothing but a lousy coward.
He walked up the road, past more caravans. He passed by Bella’s caravan on the way. He tried not to glance at it; tried to distance himself from what had happened.
But in the end he looked at it, and he felt sadness deep inside.
He hoped Harry was okay.
He hoped this wasn’t to do with Him.
He kept on going down the road when he reached the open fielded area and looked to his left.
He wasn’t expecting to see anything.
But there was something there.
At first, he thought it was just Guy and Krishna. It looked like they were standing still.
But they looked taller than he remembered.
And thinner.
A lot thinner.
He walked across the grass, crunching his feet over dead crops.
The more nausea crept up into his mouth.
Because he realised exactly what this was.
He stopped.
Right before them.
Stood there.
And in the bright, burning sunlight, he could only stare.
He heard voices behind him. Muffled voices in the distance.
When he looked back, he saw something that filled him with dread.
Hazel.
Candice.
Emma.
And…
“Shit,” Jack said.
Bella.
He walked across the field, over towards Bella, who was rushing towards Jack. She’d clearly seen what he’d seen, too.
“Bella,” he said. “You… you don’t want to see this.”
She looked at him as he held up his hands, tried to push her back. “What? I… What is it, Jack. Who is—”
“Bella, just turn away. Please. Just turn away.”
He saw her eyes look over his shoulder.
Saw that confusion turn into recognition.
And then that recognition turned into fear.
And he knew it was too late.
Bella let out a deafening cry.
She collapsed to her knees.
And as she lay there on the ground, screaming animalistic wails, all Jack could do was look back at those three wooden spikes sticking out the ground.
Severed heads stuffed onto them.
Ants gnawing at the exposed flesh around the neck.
The two guards, Guy and Krishna, on the outside spikes.
And right in the middle, staring back with fear in his wide, vacant eyes, flies buzzing around his greying skin, Harry.
Chapter Thirteen
Jack watched the crowd around him descending into chaos.
The heat today was particularly intense. The trend of the weather getting warmer by the day looked like it was continuing. Jack wasn’t sure if it was partly psychological because of everything that had happened in this short day already, but whatever the case, he was roasting. His head ached. All around him, the discontented, concerned voices emitted a cacophony of sound.
People were afraid.
And rightly so.
Bella was back at her caravan, staying out of the way. She was struggling, naturally. She needed time alone to process things, as worried as Jack was about her. They’d keep an eye on her. All of them would.
