by Casey, Ryan
She walked over towards the front door. Saw her blade. Her machete.
She grabbed it.
Took a deep breath.
Then she stepped outside, into the night.
She didn’t look back, as she locked the door.
She didn’t stop for anything.
Because the more she thought about how this might not be a good idea… the more tempted she was to go back after all.
Back to Kesha.
Back to making sure she was okay.
Making sure she was safe.
But there were things she needed to do. More pressing matters.
Kesha would be okay.
She just had to believe that.
She turned and walked into the night. She’d watched which direction Riley had headed off in. Saw him disappear down the street towards the centre. And that had filled her with fear from the off, in all truth. Filled her with uncertainty about this whole thing.
Because he’d headed right towards the area surrounding the Main Building.
It wasn’t safe in there.
And it especially wasn’t safe in the middle of the night.
As she walked through the street, the moonlight still bright as morning approached, she thought about that blood-curdling shout. And as she passed by empty, scared faces, she wondered. What if it was one of the undead? What if they were using their new abilities to attract attention? She’d heard it before, after all. And even though it’d been a long time since something like that happened here… what if it was true all along?
She walked quicker towards the centre, eager to get there so she could get back, too.
And that’s when she heard it.
It wasn’t a shout this time. It was gunfire. Gunfire up ahead.
The gunfire from Riley’s rifle.
The hairs on her arms stood on end.
An instinctive urge to get there and to make sure he was okay took over.
She started to run through the streets, machete in her hand.
She had to be ready for whatever awaited her.
When she got closer to the centre, she noticed something else.
There was talking. Shouting.
And there was groaning, too.
The undead.
They were closing in.
Riley had bloody well gone over there, and now they were closing in on him.
She had to help him.
She had to do something.
She clambered over the fence. Dropped down at the other side.
Saw a small group of the dead turn. Look right at her with those pitiful eyes.
She put any guilt out of her mind. Any apprehension to one side.
Then she pulled back her blade, and she swung.
She took them down, one by one, methodically, one after another. She could use the pistol, but she wanted to conserve ammo. Especially while she didn’t know how serious this situation was.
She felt the cold blood from the dead splatter onto her as she cut through them. Felt their flesh slicing underneath her attacks as she moved further and further through, keeping her one-eyed gaze as aware of her surroundings as she could.
And when she’d got through them, when she’d reached the other side of them, she was expecting to find Riley there.
But there was a problem.
Riley wasn’t here.
But there was movement over to the right.
She rushed over. Ran away from the undead that were closing in. There was something on the side of the building that she was unsure about. That was filling her with dread.
Because she had a feeling she knew exactly what was happening.
Exactly what was going down.
She heard more groans closing in. Looked back. Saw her path back over the fence was long gone now.
“Shit.”
So then she pushed on. The only way she could go.
Towards the side of that building.
Towards the movement.
And when she reached it, she felt her stomach sink.
Riley was halfway up it.
Ted was following not far after.
She stood there. Heart racing. She had to call out. She had to figure out what in the name of hell they were doing. Because she couldn’t climb. This rope, she wasn’t sure it could hold three of them.
She looked over her shoulder. Looked at the dead.
Then she looked back at the rope, back up it.
“Riley—”
But then she didn’t finish.
Because she felt something hit her.
Something slam right into her back.
And then she felt herself fall to the ground, cold dead hands stretching across her body, snapping jaws and clicking broken teeth closing in on her, one by one…
Chapter Eight
When Riley got close to the top of the rope, he swore he heard someone shouting his name down below.
He looked down, down past Ted, down into the darkness below. The dead had come out of hiding; that much was clear. It looked like they were congregating around the bottom of the rope. Which made sense. They’d rooted him and Ted out, and they were just waiting for them to fall down—which still seemed mightily inevitable, especially when you were this bloody high above ground.
But there was something else, too. Something that filled Riley with uncertainty. The way the creatures didn’t look like they were staring up towards him. Like they were preoccupied with something on the ground instead.
And then the certainty he felt that someone shouted his name.
“Did you hear that?” Riley asked.
Ted looked up at him. “Hear what?”
“Someone… someone called my name. I’m sure of it.”
Ted tutted. “Riley, frankly, I’ve got bigger things to focus on than whether some ghost called out your name or not.”
“Don’t be stupid. Ghosts don’t exist.”
“But running, conscious zombies do. And I’m still alive. And you and me are dangling off a bloody rope a zillion metres above ground.”
“Alright. No need to get ratty.”
“Easy for bloody you to say. You’re ahead of me. You’re close to the balcony. Honestly, I’m starting to have second thoughts.”
“Good luck making your way back down then.”
“This bloke. This Peter. He’d better be bloody worth it.”
Riley thought about Peter Hillson. The way he’d welcomed him into this place.
The way he seemed so organised. So professional.
But the way he’d betrayed Riley, too.
The way he’d betrayed everyone here.
The secret of Island 47.
It was one giant experimentation lab. One big opportunity to gather a load of people together and figure out a way to harness a cure—a true cure.
Regardless of everything he’d done… he was important. He could have information that changed everything.
Riley got the sense he’d only scratched the surface of what Peter Hillson was hiding.
What he had to tell them.
He just had to hope Peter wasn’t bullshitting all along.
“He’ll be worth it,” Riley said. “Believe me. Now come on. We’re almost there.”
He went to make a stretch for the side of the balcony.
That’s when he felt them.
Fingers.
Cold, dead fingers reaching out and grabbing his hand.
He yanked his arm away. “Shit.”
“What the fuck?” Ted said, shaking the rope wildly. “You didn’t tell me there were goons up there.”
Riley looked up into the rotting face of the creature above. The whole right side of its face had been torn away, revealing those ground teeth underneath. Must’ve survived the attack from the Orion that Riley had let out of here.
He felt the rope shaking from side to side. Felt Ted’s body—thankfully not as big as it once was—making Riley struggle to hold on.
“Just chill out,” Riley said.
>
“I’ll chill out when we’re off this fucking rope.”
“Then stop fucking shaking it then!”
“I’m not shaking it!”
“You…”
Riley realised something, then.
Realised something as he looked down at Ted.
Something that made his stomach turn.
Ted was right.
He wasn’t shaking the rope.
Something else was.
Something further down.
He couldn’t see properly. Not in the dark.
But he could see enough.
Enough to fill him with fear.
The creatures at the bottom of the rope were holding on to it, shaking it. They knew what they were doing—exactly what they were doing.
They were trying to shake them down.
And if they weren’t careful, they were going to succeed.
“What in the name of fuck?” Ted muttered.
Riley swallowed a lump in his throat as he gripped on to the rope. “Like I said. The creatures. They’ve come a long way.”
“But—but—”
“There’s a lot you have to learn about them. But for now… just focus on what’s above us right now,” Riley said, looking up into the ugly eyes of the monster staring down. “It’s all we can affect.”
He lifted his rifle slowly. Kept one hand on the rope at all times, as tight as he could. Wasn’t easy, though. Wielding a rifle with one hand. Trying to hold on with the other.
But still, he did what he could.
He aimed the gun at the creature above.
Went to fire.
But then something happened.
Another tug—larger than any before.
And then he slipped.
His reaction was instinctive. He dropped the rifle and clutched at the rope. He hit Ted with his feet. Another move that left Ted cursing, swearing.
The pair of them held on to the rope. The rifle fell down below.
And the creature above gasped and groaned and tried to grab them, tried to reach them.
All the time, avoiding climbing over the edge.
Because it knew climbing over the edge was self-destructive.
It had learned what was bad for it.
Always progressing.
Always evolving.
“What now then, mate?” Ted said. “What the fuck are we supposed to do now?”
Riley looked down. Looked at the crowd of the undead yanking the rope, swinging it, trying to do everything they could to shake him and Ted free.
Then up at that monster above.
“Only one thing I can do,” he said.
He took a deep breath.
“Riley?” Ted said.
Then without thinking, Riley launched himself up towards the creature.
“Riley!”
He punched it. Punched it square in its collapsing, rotting face.
He tried to stay focused on it. Tried to keep his attention on it at all times, knowing full well that it was risky. That its teeth were snapping so close to his fingers for comfort. Knowing that the virus had no doubt evolved again, making it resistant to whatever immunity measures they’d established in their systems.
But then the virus was airborne anyway. So this was already a risk.
“Be careful!” Ted shouted.
But Riley was beyond mere platitudes, now.
He tried to reach for the side of the creature’s face. Tried to pull some of that loose flesh away.
And then the creature’s teeth pressed against his hand.
He saw it.
The top teeth coming down as he held on to its bottom teeth.
He saw it, and he did the only thing he could.
He pulled the other way.
He pulled down. Pulled against the creature’s jaw.
He felt the teeth pressing into his skin.
Skin on the verge of breaking.
But that jaw softening.
Loosening.
Coming away.
He gritted his own teeth, and he pulled with all the force he had.
And in one snap, the creature’s jaw cracked away completely and fell against its neck.
Riley let go. He grabbed the side of the balcony as the creature kept on trying to bite him even though it physically couldn’t anymore. He climbed onto the balcony. Pushed the creature back. Then he pulled back his wrench now he could reach it and slammed it in the temple—hard.
He watched the creature fall to the balcony floor, its head cracking upon impact.
Then he turned around, held out a hand and helped Ted up.
The pair of them fell onto the side. Sat there in the early morning glow.
And they laughed.
“This is life,” Ted said. “This is what it’s all about.”
Chapter Nine
Anna felt the mass of creatures surrounding her, closing in on her, and for a moment, she really felt like this was it. This was the end.
But she’d be damned if she didn’t go down without a fight.
She felt the bodies surrounding her. Their weight intense, suffocating. She could hear their teeth all gnashing in turn, totally nightmarish. She couldn’t think clearly. She could only react. Lash out. Try to keep all of her body out of the way of those teeth.
Even though deep down she knew she was already doomed.
But still she had to fight.
For the child in her belly.
For the future ahead.
She kicked and pushed and then she realised something.
Something that made her stop.
The creatures. Their mouths were opening. Their teeth were touching her skin.
But they were stopping.
Right before they reached her, they were stopping.
She watched it happen. Watched those jaws separate, those teeth close around her skin. And then watched them glide away.
And she thought she saw their eyes focusing on her belly. She thought she saw them looking at her with a sense of knowledge. Like she was different.
She remembered the Orions, then. Remembered how they’d reacted to pregnant women. How they’d found something deep within. Resistance. Restraint.
And she didn’t know much about the Orions other than they were an altered form of the virus. A mixture of human and creature. An experiment.
If they were just a variation of the virus… then who was to say that this maternal instinct was just a natural next step in their evolution?
She stayed there a little while, totally stunned, totally still. She didn’t want to move because she didn’t want to throw all of this away. She didn’t want to risk anything, not now she was somehow surviving this, somehow alive.
But she knew she couldn’t stay here.
She knew she had to move.
She went to drag herself out of the mass of bodies when one of the creatures looked right into her eye, snarled at her, and then lunged for her neck.
She swung around, blade in hand, buried it into its head.
Then she saw the rest of them starting to pay extra attention to her. Extra focus.
Like they were waking up from whatever daydream they’d been in.
Whatever spell they’d been under.
She looked at the only escape route she had, and she clambered her way through it.
Arms grabbing at her.
Snarls getting louder.
Groans kicking in.
She got to her feet, and she made a grab for the rope. Pulled it. Tried to climb it.
But it was already too late.
The creatures. They had hold of her legs. Hold of her ankles.
They were pulling her down.
She tried to yank herself free of them. Tried to drag herself away. She tried to pull herself up that rope out of pure survival instinct more than anything.
She tried, but it was too late.
Her grip slipped.
She fell back down.
She lay on her back. There wa
s a worry. A deep concern. Because she’d felt something. Felt a sharpness right in the middle of her belly.
She knew exactly what it could mean.
Her baby.
Her baby was in danger.
But she didn’t have time to worry about that right now.
Not now she was surrounded again.
She lay there and saw her life since the fall flash before her. She saw the things she’d done. The things she’d lost. The people she’d lost.
She thought about all the times she’d thought it was over. All the times she thought it was surely the end.
Nothing felt as final as this.
She closed her eye and held on to her belly as the bodies closed in.
And then she heard something.
A blast.
A series of blasts over her shoulder.
For a moment, she thought it was Riley. That he’d come back down that rope. Seen what was happening down here. That he was coming to help her.
But all she could do was watch as the bodies above her were splattered with gunfire.
All she could do was watch as they fell around her, hitting the ground.
Teeth snapping, then nothing.
She lay there under this mass of blood and mess of gore and she gasped. Tried to get her breathing under control. Tried to get her thoughts in order. Tried to pull herself together.
But it had been close.
It had been so, so close.
She pushed herself free of the surrounding bodies. Dragged them away from her. Forced herself out of the tunnel of the dead that had so nearly cost her life.
Cost her baby’s life.
She dragged herself out into the cool air, and she lay there on her stomach and coughed. She shook. She wanted Riley. She wanted somebody here with her right now. Even though wanting someone was an admission of weakness. Even though it felt like giving up.
She couldn’t deny what she wanted right now.
What she needed right now.
She heard footsteps moving towards her. Looked up, still on guard, still tense. Still wary that all of the undead might not be taken out.
She looked up and saw something unexpected.
Someone unexpected.
Alison was standing there.
Holding a rifle.
“You look like you could do with a hand,” she said.
Chapter Ten
Riley stepped inside the Main Building, Ted by his side, as a bad feeling crept through his body.
