by Ryan Casey
Riley realised he was crying. He could taste tears on his lips. And despite it all, more than anything, it was horror he felt. Total horror at himself for getting into this situation. At himself, for not trusting.
He remembered Jordanna’s words.
“We push on. Together. But you have to see the damage you’re doing to yourself. You have to see the damage you’re doing to the world around you. And you have to see it before… before it leaves you more alone than you’ve ever been in your entire life. Not trusting people is a domino effect, Riley. Once you start toppling the dominos, you just don’t know where it’s going to end. Only that it’ll end badly.”
She was right. She was totally right.
And now he was going to pay.
Mattius turned to Riley. He crouched down. Pressed the machete against his forehead. “We’ll put you through hell for what you did to us. For the families you killed. For the lives you took.”
He pulled back his machete.
Riley braced himself for the impact.
“But I can think of much, much better ways of putting you through hell than killing you.”
Mattius stood.
He pulled Kesha from Chloë’s arms.
Threw her to one of his people.
Then he dragged out Chloë’s left arm—her last arm left—and he swung the machete through it.
Every sound drifted out of Riley’s consciousness. He knew he was screaming himself. He could feel himself fighting against the people pinning him down, holding him back.
But all he could do was watch.
Chloë’s left arm fell away.
She narrowed her eyes. Frowned, like it hadn’t really hurt. Like she didn’t understand it, not completely.
And then she looked at the stump where her left arm once was as it sprayed out blood all over Jordanna, covering her.
Mattius pulled back the machete again.
Jordanna screamed.
She threw herself at Chloë.
And then Mattius slammed the machete into Jordanna’s neck.
Riley fell to the ground. He went still, completely. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t hear. He couldn’t taste or smell. He couldn’t even breathe.
All he could do was watch.
Watch, as Jordanna clutched onto her neck as blood poured out of it.
Watch, as she lost her footing, as she fell down to the ground, choking to death.
Watch, as Mattius turned the machete back to Chloë, who stumbled forward to her knees. As he rested it against her head.
Chloë looked into Riley’s eyes. She didn’t look sad. In fact, she was smiling.
“Keep Kesha safe—”
A crack split Riley from his silent trance.
A crack that brought every sense, every sound, everything, all flying back.
A crack of the machete through Chloë’s skull.
Riley was on his knees. He was screaming out at the top of his voice, his voice box on the verge of tearing as he pulled and pulled to get free of these people.
The machete came away from Chloë’s head.
Her skull split in two, fell apart, just like Spud’s had. Spud, who Riley had killed.
And then she fell forward and hit the ground.
Riley kept on screaming. High-pitched, like a squealing pig, as tears filled his eyes.
He watched Mattius walk over to Jordanna then, as she lay there on her knees, gargling blood as it poured out of her neck.
“Any last words to say to your missus?” Mattius asked.
Riley couldn’t speak. All he could do was scream.
Mattius lifted Jordanna up from the ground by her hair.
He lifted her so the blood fell down her front, covered her body.
Her eyes looked right into Riley’s with fear. Total fear.
“Shame,” Mattius said. “Chance is gone.”
And then the machete splattered out of Jordanna’s stomach.
She kept her eyes on Riley for a while. She kept her eyes on him as he screamed out. As vomit pooled out of his mouth. As his body shook. As everything inside him crumbled and fell apart.
And then Mattius pulled the machete away.
Pushed Jordanna down to the ground.
She lay beside Chloë.
The pair of them lay together.
“When I tell you I’m never leaving your side again—even if it kills me—I mean it. Okay? I really mean it, Chloë.”
Jordanna’s twitching fingers touched the fingers of Chloë’s severed arm.
Both of them were gone.
EPISODE FORTY-TWO
FAMILY
(SIXTH EPISODE OF SEASON SEVEN)
Prologue
Four Years Ago…
Mattius looked at the withered body of his dear Cassandra and he wondered how life could be so cruel.
It was dark outside the hospital. Not that it mattered. It was always so light in here, but a kind of light that wasn’t comfortable. A kind of light that seared into your eyes. A fading light.
Through the window, Mattius saw snow falling, covering the lamppost-lit hospital car park in a thick white covering. The news had warned people not to stray too far from home tonight if they wanted to be home in time for Christmas. But Mattius had no reason to be home. He had no reason to be anywhere but here.
Because Cassandra was here, and he wasn’t ever going to leave her alone.
They were in a little private room together now. It was kind of like a hotel room, with an en-suite bathroom and shower. Much better than being in the main ward, he told her. There were even Christmas decorations up. Three days ’til Christmas now. Their fifteenth Christmas together since they first met.
Their last?
No. No, he couldn’t think that way.
Cassandra was a fighter. She could conquer her illness, fight her cancer.
He heard a gasp. He knew he was going to have to look at Cassandra because she was asking him something. He didn’t like looking at her in the state she was in. He’d rather just remember her as she was, always smiling, always cheery. Whenever he thought of his beautiful wife, he saw her when they first met in Crete. Mattius was working there for his father. Cassandra was there on holiday. They clicked over beachside cocktails right away.
They were young. They were stupid. But they loved one another. It wasn’t long before Mattius was joining Cassandra back in the UK, where they settled down in Liverpool, made a home and a life together.
He looked at Cassandra now. Examined the lines on her face as she lay there on that colourless hospital bed. Her face was pale. Her head was completely bald, covered in angry-looking red spots. It was hard to believe her body was even under the sheets, she was so thin.
She lifted a shaky hand up to Mattius. “Wa… water…”
“Okay, love. Okay. We’ll get you some water.”
Mattius went to grab a little flask of water for Cassandra. But before he could reach the bedside table, he felt his wife’s flimsy hand grab his arm.
He turned around and saw her looking him right in his eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her eyebrows were non-existent. She barely looked human anymore, let alone anything like the wife he’d loved for so long.
“Pr… promise me. Promise me.”
Mattius didn’t know what Cassandra was taking about. That was another unfortunate side-effect of her cancer, which had spread to her brain. She spoke nonsense a lot of the time, and a lot more recently.
He held Cassandra’s hand. Squeezed it tighter. “What, my love? What’s wrong?”
“Promise… You’ll never lose your faith. Never.”
Mattius felt his stomach turn. The room smelled sickly sweet, and it brought a bitter taste to his lips. “I won’t lose my faith. I’m gonna keep fighting for you—”
“I’m gone now,” Cassandra said.
“Don’t say that. You’re not gone. You’re still here and fighting.”
“Gonna… go soon.”
She leaned back onto her pillow. M
attius saw her eyes twitching, closing.
He squeezed her hand harder and crouched right by the side of the bed. “You aren’t gonna go soon. You aren’t gonna go soon ’cause I’m not gonna let you go anywhere. You’re here, and I’m here, and I’m never leaving your side. I’m never losing faith. Never.”
A small smile twitched at the sides of Cassandra’s weakened mouth. Skin that hadn’t been stretched for days. “You’re a good man,” she said.
Mattius kissed Cassandra’s head. It was cold and sticky. “I’d be nothing without you.”
She opened her eyes. And right then, Mattius swore he saw more clarity in them than he’d seen in weeks and months. “That’s not true. You’ll always be good. Just… just never… never lose… your faith. In life.”
Mattius nodded. “I won’t. I won’t.”
He held onto Cassandra’s hand.
Two hours later, she died.
She never did make that fifteenth Christmas.
Four years later…
Mattius pulled back the machete and cracked it into Chloë’s skull.
And then he moved on to the woman, Jordanna. Held her up. Took a deep breath then pierced it through her insides, out of her belly.
As they fell to the ground, he remembered his dear Cassandra’s words.
“Never lose your faith in life. Never lose your faith in life.”
He hadn’t lost any faith in life.
He was just doing this for the friends these people had taken away from him.
For the lives they’d taken away.
His faith was stronger now than ever, as the man called Riley screamed out and writhed around on the ground.
As the baby, Kesha, looked up at him with big, innocent eyes…
Chapter One
Chloë held on tightly to Kesha as Mattius stepped towards her, towards Riley, towards Jordanna.
She couldn’t help feeling dread deep inside when she saw all his people around. Lots of the people had nasty burns and scars. All of them had angry faces. They looked like they wanted to hurt her.
Riley backed up to Chloë. He touched her arm, but his hand just made her feel cold. “You followed us.”
“’You followed us’?” Mattius said. “That all you can say? ‘You followed us?’” His grin dropped in the space of a second. “You fucking killed our people. You left us all for dead. Yeah, we fucking followed you alright.”
Chloë listened to Mattius and Riley arguing with each other. She watched Mattius step closer. It was only when he was really close that she saw the machete in his hand and the stakes in the hands of the people behind him.
Kesha started to cry.
“You killed our people for no reason. And then you walked into our camp and we tried to punish you. Not the girls here, just you. We gave the ladies the benefit of the doubt. And then you all killed our people. Not just that, you went on to leave us all to burn. You killed men. Women. Children. Yeah, you did wrong. Very wrong.”
Mattius looked at Chloë. He peered right into her eyes. But like before when she’d seen him, he didn’t have any friendliness to them. Just sadness. Anger. Like he was really upset about what had happened.
He said something to Riley that made Riley throw himself at Mattius. Then two people dragged Riley down to his knees.
And without Riley in front of her, in front of Kesha, Chloë felt exposed. She felt like all the eyes around her were looking at her, as Kesha’s cries grew louder. She tasted sick. Her body heated up. This wasn’t good. It wasn’t right. She was going to have to get away.
“Kesha. She’s… she’s important. She can save people. Make them immune. That’s why she’s so important to us. Why we’re so—so distrustful. Just don’t do anything. Anything you have to do, do it to me. Please. Punish me alone. Please.”
When Riley admitted to Mattius that Kesha was immune, Chloë felt disappointed. She felt like her world was caving in around her. That was the secret. That was the biggest secret of all. That’s what she’d fought so hard to get here and to protect.
And now Mattius knew.
But maybe Mattius knowing would help. Maybe Mattius would hold off. Maybe he’d understand why they did the things they did—the terrible things they did.
“It’s okay,” Jordanna whispered.
Chloë heard Jordanna’s voice in her ear, and it made her feel calm. Jordanna always made her feel calm. She made her feel happy. She didn’t know anyone who made her feel this good since her mum.
She missed her mum. But Jordanna was a close second.
Riley was crying. He was on his knees. He looked so weak.
“We’ll put you through hell for what you did to us. For the families you killed. For the lives you took.”
Mattius lifted the machete.
Chloë heard the buzzing noises in her mind grow louder.
“But I can think of much, much better ways of putting you through hell than killing you.”
What happened next unfolded in a blur.
Mattius pulled Kesha from Chloë’s grip.
Then another of the men wrenched Chloë’s last remaining arm out.
Mattius’ machete split through it.
Chloë didn’t feel pain. She didn’t feel sadness as she heard her arm splat against the ground.
She just looked at it in confusion.
Looked at the blood spurting out of her body.
Looked at it spraying out, as screams echoed around her, but felt so far away.
She saw the machete blade hit Jordanna’s neck then. And that’s the first time she felt truly sad. That she felt true pain.
Because she saw what was happening.
She saw what was happening to herself and to the woman who’d helped her be as strong as she was right now.
Jordanna was dying.
She was dying.
This was what dying felt like.
Chloë hobbled onto her knees. She felt the hard stones of the ground cut through her shins. A few metres away, she saw Kesha lying on the ground, crying. She felt so much love for Kesha. So much love that she didn’t want to go away. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to disappear.
The buzzing noises were louder now than they’d ever been in her entire life. She looked around at Riley as he tried to fight free of the people holding him back. And then she realised, as her body grew colder, as her muscles got weaker, that she’d done good. She’d survived this far. Not only that, but she’d made it through hell.
She’d lost so many people. People she thought she needed to be strong. Mum. Elizabeth. Anna. Tiffany. Dad. So many people.
And she’d been in bad places. She’d done bad things. Shooting Anna. Letting the monsters free in the MLZ. Trying to kill herself.
But most of all, she felt warmth in the middle of her chest amidst all the chaos.
Warmth that, despite everything, despite all of the bad things that had happened in this world, she’d made it this far.
More importantly than anything, she’d brought Kesha this far.
Kesha, the girl who could cure people. The girl who could stop people getting infected.
Kesha, the key to saving the world.
She looked into Riley’s eyes and as the tears—tears of pride—filled her eyes, she opened her mouth. “Keep Kesha safe—”
A split.
A splitting pain right through her head, heavier and more intense than anything she’d ever felt in her life.
She lost her vision then. And her hearing disappeared, too.
But as she fell to the ground, she didn’t feel fear. She didn’t feel pain, not for long. She’d felt far, far worse over the last few months.
She saw Dad in the distance, standing in the light, grinning away. By his side, Mum, with her long dark hair, a smile on her face.
And with them, Elizabeth. She was laughing and waving at Chloe, desperate for her to come play.
Then Chloe saw what this was clearly.
All of them were waiting for her. All
of them were waving.
“It’s time, angel,” Mum said. She stretched her hand out as the buzzing noises got so loud Chloë thought her head might just explode. “You’ve done what you had to do. You’ve done the bravest thing of all. You’ve got Kesha this far and you’ve saved so many people because of that. But now it’s time.”
Chloë felt tears rolling down her face.
She tried to hold them back as she smiled. She looked down and realised she had both her arms again. She stretched them out and touched her mum’s fingers.
She felt a warm blanket wrap around her as she faded into the light.
She felt a permanent smile etch itself across her face at everything she’d done. Everything she’d sacrificed. Everything she’d fought for to get Kesha here.
She felt pride.
The light surrounded her.
The buzzing noises reached their highest volume yet.
Then, they disappeared.
An angel had her peace, at last.
Chapter Two
Riley threw himself at Jordanna as she lay on the ground.
He knew there were people around him. Mattius and his people. He knew he was in danger himself. But he didn’t matter. Not now Jordanna was down. Not now Chloë was down.
He reached Jordanna’s side, the taste of vomit all over his lips. He turned her over in his arms, held her twitching body. “Please,” he said. “Don’t go. Don’t go.”
When Riley looked deep into Jordanna’s eyes, he knew it was already too late. There was a total blankness to them, a complete vacancy, like the eyes of the undead. Her limbs were completely still.
The machete wound on the side of her neck and the one through her stomach were spilling out deep red blood faster than a leaky tap.
“You see what it feels like?”
Riley looked up. Mattius was standing right over him. The bloodied machete rested by his side. All around, his people looked on. Some of them looked shocked. Others looked like they were enjoying their revenge.
“You see what it feels like when people you love get taken away from you? When people you care about get snatched from you?”
