She hopelessly tried to run past them, but they grabbed her and shoved her back into the metal shutters. She wept harder as the driver approached her and kicked her in the stomach. She keeled over, gasping for air, but he grabbed her hair and punched her in the face, fracturing her nose, before rubbing her face into the ground.
“Fucking disrespect me! I gave you a fucking easy way out and how did you fucking repay me? By stabbing me in the eye! You should have taken both my eyes out because I’m making sure the last one sees you to your fucking grave, you little fucking worm!”
He raised her head, punched her again and slammed her head on the ground.
Ria couldn’t even cry, the pain was blurring her vision, her eyes were drooping and she found herself simply gasping for air. She could see it... the doors of death creaking open before her and getting closer with each blow he gave her, every cut he made to her flesh with the knife. The world was slowly slipping away and as he brought her head up one more time to quote, cut her fucking head off.
“Stop the torture bullshit and kill her already, I'm growing impatient", Lugo complained.
“I want her to suffer, I want her to feel as though there is no more hope. I want her to experience the kind of pain that I'm experiencing”.
Lugo sighed.
As the torture continued, Ria could just about hear running footsteps, before seeing Lugo go down.
The driver dropped her to the ground and stood upright.
Wincing, through teary eyes, she could just about see her father with a pole in hand unleashing a torrent of unhindered rage-filled hurt upon Lugo, the sort of violence she never thought her father capable of.
The driver lunged at him with the knife poised, but her father struck him to the face with the pole, knocking him to the ground. Lugo stumbled to his feet, but her father punched him back down and hit him again with the pole repeatedly, until Lugo grabbed it and fought back. The pole flew to the ground, punches were thrown left and right, the driver joined the scuffle, stabbing her father in the shoulder to make him cry out in agony.
He didn't subdue, if anything, that only fuelled his rage further, this was a different man, a man she hardly recognised, a man protecting his family like a lion a man she wanted so desperately to win.
“Daddy!” She weakly cried, barely able to move.
Her father, withdrew the blade from his shoulder and swiped at Lugo, cutting him, but not severely. Lugo drew the gun, but before he could fire, her father grabbed his wrist and knocked the gun out of his hand. The driver stormed at her father, tackling him to the ground and Lugo lunged for the gun in the meantime, but couldn't fire without clear aim, the driver was in his way.
Fury driving him, her father stabbed the driver multiple times in the arm, waist, shoulder, neck and back, using him as a shield against Lugo. The driver screamed and tried to release himself from her father's vice grip, but he wouldn't let go, stabbing him over and over and over again until blood was everywhere and the man stopped moving.
“Fucker!” Lugo roared and fired the gun towards her father, regardless as to whether the driver lay on top or not, hitting the driver in the back. Her father, shoved the driver's lifeless corpse off of him and flung the blade at Lugo, using the split second that Lugo took to dodge the blade to get up and pounce at him before he could fire again.
He slammed Lugo up against the wall and repeatedly punched him in the stomach until he dropped the gun once more, then unleashing all his rage, her father grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and shoved him into the metal shutters.
“You fucking lay a hand on my daughter? I’ll kill you, you motherfucking son of a bitch!”
Lugo threw punches back and the exchange lasted some time, before they both went down. Lugo was seething with rage, a madness in his eyes only superseded by her father's own.
Her father was never a fighter, he had never fought for anything, but now he was fighting for everything and she could feel the impact of his every punch, packed with determination, with fury for what those men had done to her, with rectification for all the mistakes he had ever made. This man was her pride and joy, this man was the man she adored more than anyone in the world, this man was her dad.
Lugo temporarily managed to gain the upper hand, slamming her father's head into the ground, but he grabbed Lugo in a head lock and held him like that, taking all the punches to the gut, as Lugo attempted to free himself, until in one go he released Lugo and landed a punch square in the face, dazing him. Her father threw him over and climbed on top, showering him with punches, grabbing him by his head and slamming it against the ground, shoving his arms out of the way so that he couldn't fight back or defend himself and then punching him again until Lugo lay groaning and almost motionless. His face had seen better days, her father had beaten him until his teeth lay on the ground besides them, until he couldn't see through one of his eyes, until his nose bridge had shattered and twisted, until his jaw hung broken.
Out of breath, her father stood up and slowly went over to pick up the gun.
“Daddy…” Ria croaked.
He temporarily dismissed Lugo and came over and check on her. Slumping down beside her covered head to toe in blood, he took one look at her and burst into tears.
“What did they do to you? What did they do to my angel".
“They tried... to rape and kill me. They... sh... shot me and cut me and punched me".
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, princess. I failed you. I let those monsters lay their hands on you. I could have lost you and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if that happened. I’m so, so, so sorry I didn’t get to you fast enough to protect you”. He took her in his arms and embraced her tightly. She winced from the pain, but tried to endure it.
“No…” she murmured, “You came. That’s enough”.
“No, it isn’t, it’s inexcusable, if I had come faster…” He gritted his teeth. “I’m going to put a bullet through both their fucking heads for what they did to you!”.
She sat up and glared at the two men, especially the dead driver who had brutalised her and rage begun to well up inside her, she wanted vengeance, she needed to vent this grief somehow.
Pushing her father aside momentarily and dragging herself over to where the pen knife had landed, she grabbed it and crawled over to the dead driver.
“Honey, what are you doing? Don't move", her father insisted, but she disregarded him, stopping next to the dead man and driving the pen knife into his other eye, different parts of his face, his neck, his chest, his groin over and over again, releasing all the repressed rage and frustration that had built up inside her. This was for all the times she had begged and pleaded with them to let her go and they ignored her, mocked her, tortured her, wounded her. She screamed with rage and the blood splattered everywhere, across the ground, across her clothes, across her face.
“Die! Die! Fucking die!”
He father had to abandon Lugo again and grab her in tight embrace to get her to calm down again. Panting, she released the knife to her father’s possession and wept into his chest as he cooed her, wept until she could weep no more.
“Daddy”.
“I know, it’s okay now, I’m here. I won’t let them touch you”.
Their moment was interrupted by footsteps. Her father stood up and pointed the gun in the direction they came from.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no problem man, we’re good, I saved your daughter, I came here to help”, Jack said, stopping short and raising his hands submissively. He turned to Ria, “Tell him, tell him we’re good”.
Ria stared at him coldly. Yes, he had helped her, but he was one of them, they were his buddies.
“He's one of them…” She replied.
“What? No! I saved you, if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be alive now”, he turned back to her father, “Please, think about this, I’m no threat, honestly. I just want to go home like you guys, I swear it. Come on man, please don’t do this! I have a family, I have…”
He didn’t finish his sentence before her father put a bullet through his skull, splattering the walls and floor behind him with his brain matter. He slumped to the ground, dead.
As Lugo stirred and groaned in pain, her father pointed the gun at him, ready to take the next shot, but that’s when they heard the shriek and thundering running footsteps of twitchers echoing throughout the car park.
“Shit!” Her father snapped and left Lugo. He ran back over to the shutters, noticed the padlock and fired a shot at it to release it. He pulled free the broken remnants and grabbed the bottom of the metal shutters, pulling them up just high enough for them both to slide beneath.
“Let’s go, princess”, he insisted, scooping her up in his arms despite his own injuries and carried her beneath the shutters.
Safely on the other side and looking up at the open exit to the carpark, Ria finally felt like there was hope again.
Lugo rolled over and spotted them leaving.
“H... help... me! D... don’t leave... me!” He murmured.
“Go to hell!” Ria screamed at him, as her father slammed the shutters down. They stood back to the sound of Lugo’s shrill screams.
Her father propped her up onto his back and they made their way to safety.
CHAPTER 20 - TERRY & RIA: 8:02pm - 8 Hours, 17 Minutes since outbreak
They took shelter in a nearby ransacked shop and her father took some time to reach her mother, but not before wrapping her in one of the coats hanging from the shop racks.
Ria was exhausted and emotionally drained, but at the very least, she was glad that that chapter was done with.
She couldn’t wait to get out of this city and hopefully soon, given how the sound of explosions seemed to be drawing perilously closer, as more jets roared across the skies.
It didn’t take very long for her mother to pick up the phone and after a minute or two of speaking, her father turned to her and reassured her that her mother and brother were okay, that they were with two of her female colleagues, Lizzy and Elmira and they had found a car. Her father arranged to meet them at Stepney Green where they would make their way out of the city together.
In order to avoid them hanging around too long and being attacked by lingering twitchers, her father instructed them to get to the Stepney Green station entrance by 8:20, that he would be waving the illuminated phone to be seen.
Once he put down the phone, he picked her up on his back and they left the shop together.
Initially they were silent as they attempted to get past the twitchers in Bethnal Green Gardens and the back roads, using the noise of alarms and explosions to mask the sound of their own movement. Globe Road however, was more or less quiet, though it had certainly seen its fair share of events. Doors hung open and all manner of disregarded items littered the ground. Clearly the flats and houses along this road had been looted for all they were worth and Ria was willing to bet there were dead people inside those houses too, not all of them the victims of twitchers.
When Ria felt it was safe to talk, she did so.
“Daddy…” She said, clutching on to his neck and resting her head on his back.
“Yes Ria?”
“Forgive me”.
“Whatever for?”
“For being spoilt. For being a brat. For not respecting you”.
“I’m to blame for that, I was pathetic”.
“And I was really mean to you, you didn’t deserve that”.
“I won’t deny that it hurt, but I can’t deny that I was weak, unreliable and a mess. I can’t imagine how ashamed you must have been of me”.
“That’s not true, I’ve never been ashamed of you... it just... made me angry when you stopped making an effort and I guess not fighting for mum, not fighting for us when Daniel came along, I got frustrated”.
“I was in... a bad place, but that’s no excuse. I was a bad father and I want to make it up to you both, all of you, including Natasha”.
“Well I was a bad daughter, so I guess like father, like daughter”. Her father chuckled.
“It’s in our blood, princess. Say, do you remember when I used to give you piggybacks as a kid”.
“Of course, not”, she replied, wincing as each bump reminded her of the pain she was in. Everything hurt.
“You used to call me your magical horse and I said magical horses were for real princesses and you said, you must be a princess then and that’s how you earned that nickname”.
“Come on, dad. I’m not a kid anymore, you’re embarrassing me”.
“Ria”.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry for being an asshole. I just want you to know that you, your brother and your mum mean everything and more to me. To lose either of you would be to lose my very soul”. Ria smiled and embraced him tighter.
“I know I said the museum was lame before, but if I ever got another chance to go with you and George, I would”, she replied. Her father smiled and said no more.
They passed beneath a bridge, but as they emerged from the other side, a large figure dropped down from above, blocking their path. Initially they thought it to be another twitcher, but as it turned to face them, the horrific truth revealed itself. There before them stood Daniel, except this was more than just Daniel, it was Daniel merged together with someone and something else, almost like conjoined twins.
“What the fuck?” Terry murmured, stepping back. How had that bastard survived, found them all the way out here and become this... grotesque thing? Was there even a creative mind who could conjure up such a being?
He pointed the gun towards the monstrosity and pulled the trigger, but much to his horror, nothing happened, nothing but the click of an empty magazine. Dammit, now would have been the time to have that shotgun from earlier. What were they going to do now? He had only the pen knife at his disposal and that wasn't going to be anywhere near enough to bring this lumbering nightmare down. On top of that, he had also his daughter's wellbeing to consider.
The houses, maybe they had something useful; it was a stab at the dark, but what other choice did he have.
“Daddy…” Ria whispered, panicking.
“Hold on tight, princess”, Terry replied. He spun around and bolted in the opposite direction, with her clinging onto him.
They ran into an open doored house with clothes scattered across the drive. The windows were smashed inwards and the house was vacant. Upon further inspection, they realised that blood covered the walls and floor. There had most certainly been quite a scuffle here.
That aside, Terry ran into the kitchen, where he put Ria down. The back door leading out into the small garden with a shed hung open and in the middle of the lawn was what looked to be a dead animal, most likely a dog.
After inspecting his surroundings, he hurried back over in her direction to access drawers and shelves behind her.
“Ria, I need you to get out of here. Climb the fences, make your way to the front and get to Stepney Green station”, he instructed, as he rummaged through drawers and cupboards looking for anything he could use as a weapon, but all he could find was matches, a rack of knives and a kitchen gas lighter.
“Without you?” Ria replied.
“Without me. I'm almost convinced that Daniel is coming after me specifically and if that’s the case, then no matter where we go, he'll be right there behind us. I need to deal with this once and for all”.
“How do you know that? Why would he do that? How can you be so sure that that is even him?”
“Because we met him when we were trying to escape your mother's office and he attacked us. He was infected. There's nothing left of him, he just wants to finish me off and kill you three. I'm an obstacle and he hates me the most".
“But how would he have even found us all the way here?”
“I have no idea. You need to get to safety, get out of the city”.
“No, I’m not going anywhere without you, dad”.
“Ria!” He snapped and just then, they were interrupted
by the sounds of Daniel lumbering in through the front door.
“Ria, I won’t tell you again! Get out of here!” He turned to her with scorn in his eyes, as though to intimidate her, but behind them she could see his genuine paternal concerns for her wellbeing and it made her heart hurt. She was going to say goodbye to her dad again and she really didn’t want to, so instead she said nothing and slipped out of the back door.
Not until she was safely over the fence did he turn to face his greatest enemy standing at the kitchen door. A towering, lumbering, grotesque creature that not even his worst nightmares could hold a candle to.
The twitcher stood there glaring him down with the head that did not belong to Daniel. It twitched like all others, but appeared more aggressive despite its slower mannerism. The aura coming from it was intensely ominous and its speechless approach only increased the gravity of its menacing presence.
As it slowly approached him heavily breathing, wheezing and twitching, not saying a word, Terry felt as though his feet were glued to the ground. He began to wonder if there was any semblance of Daniel in there whatsoever or was this just another twitcher that had somehow combined itself with Daniel and in doing so, adopted Daniel’s gripes against him.
Attached to its bottom half was what looked to be a dog, but it was so horribly disfigured, it could have been anything.
There wasn’t much room to move in this kitchen, so Terry had no clue how he was going to get out of this alive, but he wasn’t going to let this thing do any harm to his family.
It gurgled before launching an attack on him. He ducked, about the only thing he could possibly do in that instance and just as it smashed the counter behind him to bits, but just as he had believed he had gotten by, the fucking mutilated dog attachment took a massive bite into his leg, drawing blood. Terry had to fight it off by repeatedly stabbing it with the pen knife before the twitcher had a chance to recover and launch another attack on him. It eventually let him go, but even freed of its jaws, Terry knew that it was all over, he had been infected and it was only a matter of time before he became one of these monsters.
Cryptophobia (Book 1): Outbreak [Fear The Unknown] Page 22
