by Casey, Ryan
And then he heard that groan again, and the man’s crowbar came driving down into his skull.
He felt it. The explosion inside his head. A ringing sound splitting through his ears as he fell back down to the daffodils below.
And this time, when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t see. Only colours dancing in his vision. His body shaking violently. Bloodied saliva drooling out of the sides of his mouth.
As his vision gradually returned, the colours giving way, he looked up into the eyes of that man. And he saw something, then. A look of sympathy. Like he regretted what he’d just done. Like he’d heard the word “wait” just like he had.
“What—what are you?” the man asked.
And then as he lay there on the ground, blood drooling from his nostrils, the man took a deep breath, felt a weight lift off his shoulders, and he smiled.
“I’m… I’m alive,” he said. “I’m… I’m being controlled. But I’m alive. We’re all… we’re all alive.”
As he said those words, he closed his eyes. Because the energy was drifting from his body. He wasn’t even sure whether he’d imagined it. Whether the words he’d said were just a figment of his fading consciousness.
But something told him they weren’t.
Something told him they were the most real moments of his life for the last… well, however long he had been trapped in his own body, a prisoner to his own base, primal urges.
Or the base, primal urges of his controller. Whoever it was. Whatever it was.
He saw the man above him again, and he realised something, as his body raised from the ground again. As he stood opposite him. More in control now. More conscious of what he was doing. The controller, all over again.
The man was crying. Tears pouring down his cheeks. He looked traumatised. Like his revelation had shocked the man even more than it had shocked him.
“My… my wife,” he said. “My kids. I put them down. I put them down when they turned. And they—they saw that. You’re saying they saw that.”
And as he stood opposite this crying man now, he could only sympathise.
At a deep level.
Because at a surface level, there was something else.
Something bulldozing the rest of his feelings. His emotions. His urges.
“You’re saying they saw me,” he said. “You’re—you’re saying they watched me kill them. Is that what you’re saying?”
He stood there for a second, revelling on this strange tightrope between in control and out of control.
And then he felt it take over him again.
“Speak to me—”
The man didn’t finish.
Because he threw himself at him and wrapped his teeth around his neck.
He dug them in. The taste of blood, the hit like a drug as it kicked him. The screaming of this man. The punching. The hitting. The begging.
And as he ripped the flesh from his neck, as he pulled his throat away, felt his muscles stringing between his teeth, he could only sit back.
He could only allow his controller to run the show.
He could only let this bastardisation of free will; this cancer of the illusion of choice; take over him completely.
He saw the crisping daffodils by his side.
Splattered with deep red blood.
Daffodils in the summer were always such a tragic sight.
Chapter One
Riley stood in the entrance area of the Main Building, Ted and Peter Hillson by his side, and he thought about the journey that was unfurling ahead of him.
The morning sun beamed over the horizon. Outside, it looked like the bulk of the creatures had vacated. Moved on to another distraction. Or perhaps figured out a way to climb up the rope, work their way in through the window.
And there was the Orion, too. The thought of it made Riley shudder. One moment it had been behind him, now it was gone. And there was no reason for it to stop pursuing them. No reason for it to stop chasing them.
Which meant wherever it was… it was only a matter of time before it closed in on them. Before it changed its course and started pursuing them once again.
Because they didn’t give up that easily. Riley knew that something was wrong. There had to be something.
But there was the sound of the gunfire cracking at the front of the island, too. There was the sound of something occurring; something going down.
Riley didn’t know what it was. But he could only assume the worst.
Which made him paranoid about Kesha’s safety. About Anna’s safety.
About everyone’s safety.
Riley started walking back towards the entrance. “We need to get out of here.”
“There’s no getting out of there,” Peter said.
Riley turned around, squared up to him. “Me and Ted got in here, which means there is a way. We have to try.”
Peter looked at him, regret across his face. “Riley, I’ve been locked away in here for weeks surviving off the supplies we’ve got. If I thought there was a chance of getting out, of warning you of what was coming… I would have. Okay? I would have.”
“Looks like you didn’t try hard enough.”
“I had important information,” Peter said. “The kind I didn’t want to just go wandering around out there with. Don’t blame me for wanting to stay in here for as long as I could.”
Riley sighed. There were issues with Peter’s story. Inconsistencies. But if what he was saying were true… if the virus really could be cured, and he, Kesha, and this woman called Rhubi were a part of that cure, then he had to take that seriously.
“So what’re you suggesting we do?”
“There’s only one way,” Peter said. “A way underneath this place. A route that’ll lead us right towards District 63. The district where Rhubi is.”
“And when we’re done there,” Riley said. “When we find this Rhubi then find our way out. What then? We supposed to just find a way out of here all of a sudden?”
Peter looked at Riley, then Ted, who he hadn’t really addressed yet. Then he glanced back at Riley again. “That’s something to figure out when we do the main part of the job.”
“And how do we know we can trust you?” Ted asked.
Peter looked at Ted. Scanned him briefly from head to toe and back again. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”
“This is Ted,” Riley said. “He’s my best friend. You speak to him exactly like you’d speak to me. Okay?”
Peter raised his hands. “I’m just saying. I don’t know who he is. How do I know I can trust him?”
“Don’t play that bullshit.”
“It’s a valid point.”
“It’s you pushing your bullshit to further your agenda. Fact is I don’t trust you. You’ve already hidden so much from us once. Why should I just believe you’ve suddenly got our best interests at heart?”
Peter sighed. “I always had everyone’s best interests at heart.”
“Except for the people actually living here, on this island.”
“The past is the past,” Peter said. “But I’m not an evil man. And the fact stands, Riley. Standing here and debating the next course of action isn’t going to get to Rhubi. It isn’t going to save this island. It isn’t going to distribute the cure and save everyone.”
Riley wanted to bite back then, but he couldn’t. There was nothing he could say.
In the end, he knew Peter Hillson was right.
“The rest of the island… it can deal with itself,” Peter said. “For now.”
“And Kesha? If she’s in danger?”
His mouth opened then as if he was planning on saying something. But he was clearly stumped. “We have to hope she’s okay. She’s with strong people. Anna. Carly. She’ll look out for her. Like she always has.”
Riley looked away, a lump swelling in his throat.
“Carly is okay. Right?”
He looked back at Peter, and he sighed. “No. No, she’s not. But it doesn’t matter to
you anyway.”
Peter looked at the floor. “I think you’ll find news of any of my citizens’ demise is deeply upsetting to me.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Riley said.
He looked back. Looked out the window. Listened to the peppering of gunfire. To the sound of shouting. And he wanted to be out there. He wanted so bad to be out there and helping. Making sure Kesha was okay. Making sure everyone was okay.
But then he looked at Peter, and he remembered what he’d said.
The elixir, as he called it.
The three people. Him. Kesha. And this Rhubi from District 63.
All it took was their blood to interact, if what Peter was saying was true. Then that would be enough to get the ball rolling. To begin to new stage of the virus—the cure stage.
There was nothing they could do to help Kesha. To help Anna. To help Alison. Not right now.
There was only one thing he could do.
As contrary to his instincts as it felt.
“How long will it take?” he asked.
Peter frowned. “What?”
“To get to District 63. To get to this Rhubi. To find her. And then… then to distribute this damned cure. How does a process like that even unfold?”
“We’ll get to the bulk of it later,” Peter said. “Like I said, it’s much simpler than sending out injections en masse. It’s just a case of the anti-virus infecting the right people at the right time and… boom. But anyway. The journey itself… we’re talking two hours. Tops. There and back. Assuming all goes to plan, anyway. The important thing right now is… are you on board? Are you with me?”
Riley thought about all the people who had turned. Those who weren’t in awful physical condition. The ones who had fallen victim to the airborne strain of the virus.
The ones who were locked in.
Their conditions reversible.
He thought about all of these people out there—these people who he owed so much—and as contrary to his instincts as it was, he knew what he had to do.
“Lead the way,” Riley said. “Take us to District 63.”
A smile crept up the corners of Peter Hillson’s face as the gunfire continued to rattle on behind Riley.
“Time to descend into Hell’s first circle,” Peter said.
Chapter Two
Anna stood behind the side of the building and watched as Xanthe’s group launched their attack on the island.
It was still in the early hours, so it was mostly dark, but the sun was beginning to rear its head now. If it wasn’t for the events unfolding, it would’ve been a beautiful sunrise.
But any element of beauty was immediately etched away by the attacks. By the screams.
By the way these people—humans, it seemed like—threw themselves at other people and bit them.
And sank their teeth into them.
Ripped them apart.
She held her breath. Heart racing. Listened to those screams as they continued to echo around the place. She could hear Alison by her side, saying things, uttering words of reassurance, words of comfort.
But it didn’t offer any comfort.
Not when she knew what was going down.
Not when she knew how much danger her people were in.
Not when she knew how much danger Kesha was in.
“I need to get to her,” Anna said.
Alison frowned. “What?”
“Kesha,” she said. “I left her in there. I left her in there, and now she’s in danger. She’s—”
“Slow down,” Alison said.
“Don’t tell me to slow down.”
“I’m telling you right now, straight up. Slow the hell down. If you don’t, you’re going to fucking hyperventilate or something.”
Anna didn’t want to follow Alison’s orders. But she found herself taking a few deep breaths to centre herself. In the backdrop of the chaos. In the backdrop of the gunfire.
Then she opened her eye and looked back at the Main Building.
She thought about Riley in there. Ted alongside him.
He’d have no idea what was going on right now.
No idea about Melissa.
She thought about how she’d stood up to that woman, Xanthe. That woman who on the surface seemed so… ordinary. A little violent, but ordinary for the most part.
But then she’d seen what she’d done.
The way she’d sunk her teeth into Melissa’s neck.
And then she’d heard what she’d said.
The talk of this virus she had.
A form of the virus that left her half in control.
Conscious.
But unable to repress her urges.
Unable to stop those urges spiralling out of control.
She looked around at the Main Building and wondered if Peter was still in there. If what Xanthe said about him was true. If Riley and Ted had run into him. If perhaps they knew what was going down out here after all.
She took another deep breath.
There was only one thing she could change right now.
“I need to get to Kesha. I need to make sure she’s safe.”
She tightened her grip on her machete.
Then she looked at Alison, and she half-smiled.
“You with me?”
Alison sighed. “Looks like I don’t have much of a choice, hmm?”
Anna held her breath.
Then she turned around the corner.
She looked into the road. The first thing she saw was Melissa’s body. Lying there. Still.
There were others, too. Other bodies. Some alive, some struggling in the street. And some dead.
She froze for a moment. As far as she could tell, there was nobody up ahead. Nobody from the helicopter in sight. But she could still hear them. Which meant she had to keep her guard up.
She always had to keep her guard up.
She looked at her home.
Kesha was nowhere to be seen in the window.
She rushed over towards her place. Rushed past the bodies. Rushed past the people who were still alive, too. Writhing around on the ground. Bleeding out.
And Anna wanted to help these people. She wanted to do something for them.
But she would have to live with the guilt of knowing there was nothing she could do right now.
Time was of the essence.
She ran to the front of her house when she stopped.
She saw people. Up ahead. Round the left side of the house. Running in her direction.
She backed up to the wall, Alison following her move. She held her machete as those footsteps closed in, closer, closer…
And then when she knew the moment was right, she swung around that corner and swung her blade at them.
She saw them. Saw the looks in their eyes. The shock on their faces.
And then she looked at the machete.
It had gone straight through the middle of them.
They fell down to the ground, their bodies halved.
And as blood pooled out of them, Anna could have no time for sympathy.
She reached for the rifles. Threw the other one to Alison, who barely caught it in time.
“Two down,” Anna said. “It’s a start.”
And then she made her way towards the front of house, rifle in hand, and held her breath.
When she reached the front door, her stomach sank.
The door was partly ajar.
Which meant someone had gone inside.
She pushed it open. Held her rifle. Focused intently on every inch of the room ahead of her.
Then she made her way slowly, shakily, to the bedroom.
The room where Kesha was.
Where she had to be. Surely.
When she reached it, she saw something that made her stomach sink.
Kesha wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
But there was a man in the room.
With a gun.
He was searching the room.
And Anna didn’t
hold back. She didn’t restrain herself.
She lifted the rifle.
He turned around. Glanced at her. Blood rolling down his chin.
She didn’t give him any time to make a case for himself.
She opened fired at him.
Sent him crashing back against the window.
She stood in the room, then. Looked around. Looked for signs of where Kesha might’ve gone. Footprints. Signs of a struggle. Anything like that.
“Anna,” Alison said.
Anna raised a hand. “Don’t.”
“But—”
She spun around. “I said…”
She saw her, then.
Saw her sitting there in Alison’s arms.
“Kesha,” she said.
She stepped towards her. Grabbed her. Pulled her close.
“Hiding from bad,” Kesha muttered.
Anna held her tight. Tears rolling down her face. “Good. That’s good.”
She felt that bond between them. That maternal bond, which was only going to get stronger, not weaker, when she had a kid of her own.
She felt a hand, then. A hand touching her arm. Squeezing, just a little. Snapping her out of the moment.
She looked up. Saw Alison standing there. Concern across her face.
And then she followed Allison’s eyes.
Across the room.
When she saw what Alison was looking at, her stomach sank.
Xanthe stood there.
Rifle in hand.
Smile on her face.
“Hello,” she said.
She stepped forward, and Anna saw the blood stained on her teeth.
“What do we have here?” she said.
Staring at Kesha.
Smile widening.
Eyes flickering.
Chapter Three
Riley looked at the underground entrance to District 63 and felt tension building inside.
It was pitch black down here in the tunnels. Could be any time of day at all up above ground. What he had seen of the tunnels reminded him of the ones that had wormed through Britain all those years ago. The ones that had linked the safe zones to the bunkers. The one he’d walked through in search of the Manchester Living Zone, and where he’d been bitten.
